The red shoes

i remembered reading this story by the Hans Christian Andersons brothers when i was young. i love the story....but wierdly i'm not sure why. perhaps because this story was different from the rest of the story...stories they told usually talk about the good guys and the bad guys...a distinction to tell kids how one should behave when they grow up. the red shoes...on the other hand, was tragic. a girl who have a favourite pair of shoes doesn't seem like an evil character at all. she had to have her legs cut off in the end. it was tragic and sad...and there was nothing to be learnt. well, at least that was what i thought.

went tuition today and my tutee started asking me to read this story...and amazingly it was 'the red shoes'. i was really surprised because not many had heard this story..and i could vividly remembered how much i like the story and i couldn't share it with others. there she goes asking me how can that story end like that...why does it have a sad ending.. i reread the story and realised there was a lesson to be learnt.

karen, the protagonist was born into a poor family. she was adopted by an old lady after the death of her mother. she was beatuiful but she had an obsession with the red shoes that was bought for her. she started thinking about how beautiful her shoes and the only thoughts inside her were about the red shoes. she forgot her duties and went against rules...all because of the red shoes. then somebody cast a spell on the shoes and she ended up dancing and dancing..she couldn't stop and she had to have her legs chopped off.

tragic isn't it? for the full story go to http://hca.gilead.org.il/red_shoe.html..it's a good read. i think i've learnt so much from it and sad to say...this story apply in our lives so much that it hurts to even think that such a lesson could be garnered from a story like this. the bottom line is...for every mistake u make...there should be a consequence..and after that consequence life must go on...i got another understanding though...it was a christian sort of way...the red shoes was like money...and the little girl was thinking about that all the time...so much that she forgets ppl who love her...she goes to church only thinking about her shoes...she forgots to take care of the old lady who adopted her because of her shoes...the red shoes somehow signified material wants...the person who cast the spell was an angel and she chopped her legs away...it was like god's wrath on her...by taking away her legs...the only thing that the shoes can wear...and the old lady...the only person who cared for her...she beared the consequences...and went back to god again...never needing such shoes...and god and the people around her forgave her. so wierd...it's like what the scriptures are talking about. the story is tragic...what a way to show god's wrath... somehow god gave mercy in the end and helped her through the period...telling her material needs only bring bad consequences..

amazing isn't it? i was enlightened seriously =)
thank god