Choices and Consequences

            The short story "Godfather Death- written by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm talks of how a man who has one too many children realizes he can not afford another child. He comes to the conclusion that he must find a suitable godfather to assure that his son is taken care of. After considering several options, the man selects death because death claims to treat all men equal and promises the man that he will make his son rich and famous. As the boy grows, his Godfather holds true to his word. The son grows to become a world renowned Doctor, that is until he double crosses Godfather Death "Twice. Throughout this story, the Grimm brothers will show how ignorance greed and betrayal can affect ones life.
             In this story, one of the main characters, the poor man, displays ignorance. First, the father carelessly has a thirteenth child then because he knows that there is no way that he can afford this child, and he talks of barely being able to feed the twelve he already has, he decides to give the thirteenth child away. He displays signs of ignorance by choosing to give the child to the first individual that he comes in contact with on the highway. The first person he meets is God, who in reality is a perfect choice because he promises to look after the child and give him a happy life on earth. Out of ignorance as to who God really is, the man chooses to bypass God for fear that He will not look after the child fairly, because the child came from a poor family. Although he wisely chooses not to select the devil as the child's future godfather out of fear that the devil will deceive and mislead the child in life, the mans lack of knowledge causes him to select Death. He believes that death makes no distinction between the rich and the poor, not realizing that the life of his child is altered from this point on and that the boy will have to eventually choose between death and his happiness. Death claims that if he is chosen that the mans child will never want for anything.