| Snow White is actually an ancient fairy tale, which | | | | days and on the seventh he rested. |
| was documented by the Grimm Brothers in 1812. It | | | | The names of the dwarfs: |
| has variations in other cultures, but the most | | | | Some people have thought to correlate the seven |
| well-known version today is likely to be the Disney | | | | dwarfs with the seven deadly sins, but that |
| version. | | | | correlation doesn't hold water. In the Grimm version |
| Many fairy tales seem to be a simple children's story | | | | of Snow White, the seven dwarfs do not have |
| on the surface, but there are messages, morals and | | | | names. In Disney's version of Snow White, the |
| symbolism contained within the story. A closer look a | | | | dwarfs do have names but those names were |
| Snow White will reveal some messages that you | | | | chosen out of sixty or so possible names and they |
| may not have noticed before. Much of the symbolism | | | | do not correspond to the seven deadly sins. The |
| is Christian based and there are several parallels to | | | | names of the seven dwarfs are: Dopey, Grumpy, |
| stories in the Bible. Other aspects of symbolism are | | | | Doc, Happy, Bashful, Sneezy and Sleepy. These |
| tied to common story lines in traditional fairy tales. | | | | names are more aptly "the seven moods of man" |
| The colors White, Red and Black: | | | | rather than sins. |
| The colors presented at the beginning of the story | | | | The Seven Deadly Sins: |
| (skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, hair as | | | | The Seven Deadly Sins are represented in the story |
| black as ebony) provide a direct indication that Snow | | | | of Snow White, but not in the form of the seven |
| White is a "coming of age" story. White represents | | | | dwarfs. |
| innocence (birth), red represents life and passion, | | | | Pride/Vanity: Clearly the vanity of the Evil Queen. The |
| while black represents death. The story of Snow | | | | mirror is clearly a direct reference to vanity. |
| White starts out with Snow White being a young girl | | | | Lust/Extravagance: Again, the Queen as royalty is |
| in the original versions, and a rather naive young | | | | extravagant |
| woman in the Disney version (the white phase). She | | | | Gluttony: The seven dwarfs eating (maybe a |
| undergoes maturity through the movie (the red | | | | stretch). Or in the original tale, the Queen actually |
| phase), and experiences death (in her sleep-like state, | | | | eats the heart of Snow White. |
| the black phase). | | | | Greed: The Queen again |
| No mother: | | | | Sloth: Originally meant sadness, melancholy,apathy, |
| The absence of the birth mother makes it possible | | | | depression, and joylessness which would distract |
| for storytellers to introduce the role of the evil | | | | from attention to god. This applies to the dwarfs |
| stepmother. The evil stepmother is a common | | | | after Snow White dies and sloth in the form of |
| element of many fairy tales: Snow White, Cinderella, | | | | sloppiness certainly applies to the seven dwarfs in |
| Hansel and Gretel. The lack of a mother at all is also | | | | their manner of housekeeping. |
| common, because if a mother were present, the | | | | Wrath: The wrath of the seven dwarfs upon the |
| series of events would not unfold as they do in | | | | witch after they discover Snow White dead. |
| stories where there is no maternal influence. People | | | | Envy: The Queen (again) |
| have often accused Walt Disney as being a | | | | The seven deadly sins have opposites in the seven |
| proponent of stories without mothers (it is true that | | | | holy virtues: Humility, Chastity, temperance, charity, |
| many Disney movies do not have mothers) but | | | | diligence, patiences, kindness. All of these are |
| Disney re-created classic stories where the mother | | | | characteristics of Snow White. |
| being dead was already a part of the story | | | | Resurrection: |
| development. This element of story telling aims to | | | | Snow White "dies" and comes back to life. This |
| engage the readers sympathy and it does that very | | | | certainly parallels the death and resurrection of Jesus |
| well. | | | | from the Bible. |
| The poison apple: | | | | The hand washing: |
| This would seem to point all the way back to the | | | | The part of the story where Snow White demands |
| biblical reference of the apple which was offered to | | | | that the dwarfs wash could be related to the |
| Eve by the serpent (evil/Satan). The evil queen | | | | cleansing of baptism. After the dwarfs have washed, |
| offers Snow White the apple in much the same way. | | | | they become people that seem to have a new |
| Snow White knows she should not be speaking to | | | | purpose in life, except for Grumpy who protests the |
| strangers, but she does it anyway and she pays for | | | | most. Grumpy does undergo a transformation |
| that mistake by falling under the spell. | | | | throughout the movie though, from a skeptical dwarf |
| The significance of seven: | | | | into one that is very devoted to Snow White. |
| The number seven was used many times in the Bible | | | | The Work Ethic: |
| for signifying perfection. The book of Revelation | | | | Snow White cleans the little house without prompting |
| contains numerous groups of sevens such as angels, | | | | and cooks without being asked. The seven dwarfs |
| churches, trumpets, crowns, mountains, stars, and | | | | also are hard at work in the mines (Hey Ho...). |
| kings. It is one of the most significant numbers in | | | | These are a few of the symbols that are the most |
| Christianity in the sense that "God created the world | | | | visible in the story of Snow White, and there are |
| in seven days", or rather he created the world in six | | | | probably some more! |