Analysis of The Tinderbox

There are no obvious moral messages to Hans Christian Anderson's story - the protagonist finds no 'comeuppance' to decapitating the witch, his greed is rewarded and the inherent sexism in the story involving the princess (she is routinely stolen to be ogled at and in the end is described as happy to have an arranged marriage) is hardly acknowledged - although that last one is perhaps more a comment on the time it was written than anything else. At any rate, the tale is merely a list of events, without particular focus or symbolic meaning. Arguably this is a good thing: it provides us with a loose framework in which to project our own ideas.

The book 'The Skillful Huntsman' uses a similar project: a story by the Brothers Grimm involving similar themes and characters. In the tale, a young locksmith's son decides to travel the world and become a huntsman. He learns the trade from a man he meets on his travels, and in return for helping him over the years is given a weapon, the 'airgun', that never misses its target. The tale goes on to involve giants, a princess and her father, who the huntsman eventually weds (again we see an attractive young woman become the 'macguffin' in the plot - simplified down into an object that drives events forward). Although the Skillful Huntsman is a rambling tale, the original translation of which hardly does what story there is justice, the students of Art Center College of Design in California involved in the project came up with some incredibly impressive work. There is a considerable variety in the artwork included in the book. A mixing of sci-fi noire and fantasy elements creates a powerful and unique aesthetic, with clothing designs finding inspiration from many different time periods. The team behind the Skillful Huntsman took what, in my opinion, is a poorly-written, aimless story as their basis, extricated the core ideas (characters, environments, creatures) and created some truly imaginative designs.

The Skillful Huntsman, 2005

The setting I have been assigned for this project is '30s America'. It is tempting to push the meaning of such a loose description and consider settings other than the obvious - 1930s CE United States of America - and use the brief to look at any time period I want (1830s CE, 2030 BCE, 1000030 CE, etc etc) and any setting in the continents of the Americas. But arguably the period with the most visual imagery to draw from is 1930s USA, and so that is the setting I shall use.

The soldier in the Tinderbox is returning from war. A quick internet search of conflicts that occured in the 1930s brought one in particular to the forefront of my imagination: the Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939) between two broad coalitions of the left and the right. The Republican Faction were generally left-wing and had support from the Soviet Union, while the Nationalists were characterized by their fascist elements. Ultimately the Nationalist side won, resulting in a fascist dictatorship until the 1970s. As a socialist I find this time period particularly fascinating and I think it links in well to one of the analyses that have been made of the Tinderbox: the way it describes class and the value of wealth. The king in the story is mortified at the idea of his high-born daughter marrying a 'common soldier', so much so that he locks her in a tower away from the rest of society. The witch is not interested in material wealth, ultimately she understands that it is better to have control over the dogs. The dogs could either continually fetch her such wealth, or give her power through violence and the threat thereof instead.  The soldier's wealthy friends desert him at the first sign of trouble, and the soldier is put to death at the whim of the king, with no trial being described. Ultimately the soldier overthrows the royalty and replaces them - the town are too afraid of his dogs to allow anything otherwise.

The flag of Spain's leftist 'Popular Front'

So we can draw interesting themes from the Tinderbox, or rather use it's loose framework to project our own ideas into it.

The character of the soldier in my interpretation is a second generation spanish immigrant living in Illnois, America. He has returned from fighting in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Republicans defending his extended family. Although he is not especially political, he finds the point of view of the Republicans more favourable and is traumatised by the atrocities committed primarily by the Nationalist forces.

His name is Ramón (calling himself Raymond around Americans) Guerrero. Guerrero is a surname derived from the Spanish for warrior, and a common surname.