Peoples 1
Tashana Peoples
Professor Johnson
English 201- 9E3
February 1, 2012 Short- Writing Assignment

The symbol I chose to write about from Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s “Godfather Death” is the highway. According to Merriam-Webster, a highway is “a main road that connects cities, towns, etc.” Literally it serves as an essential road, or a main route to someplace available to cars, people and animals. People go there for many things, and usually everyone or everything that travels to a highway has one specific goal. That goal is to get somewhere else. Some might go there to look for help but still, they are trying to get past their current situation, whatever that situation may be. Therefore, they are trying to go somewhere; from one situation to better one. The symbolic meaning for the highway is a troubled time, or a time of conflict, or struggle. The story first opens up by describing the father’s struggles pertaining to taking care of all of his kids. It goes on to say that he is confused and doesn’t know what to do, so he goes to the highway. In this piece the highway is used as a place where the father turns to because he’s desperate. He feels as if there is nothing else he can do and goes there in his time of need. There he meets three people on his quest to give his child a better life. During hard times, these “people” or beings are who/what people eventually turn to during hard times. In this story the symbolic meaning of the highway is Peoples 2 similar to its literal meaning. Either way it’s used, it takes him someplace, bringing him to God, the Devil, and Death. It adds to the story by serving as the connection to the child and his godfather both symbolically and literally. Without the highway, in it’s symbolic meaning; the father would have never needed help. There would have been no time of trouble for him because he would have been content in life. Without it in its literal meaning, there wouldn’t have been a place for the father and the three prospective godfathers to meet. They all individually serve different purposes, or have different characteristics. God is good and merciful, the Devil is evil and tempting, and Death is simply that; the person who takes people from this world. Where else would these entirely different characters meet? If the father went to church he would have found God and possibly Death, but not the Devil being that he isn’t allowed there. The highway is significant because it’s the only place where he could come into contact with all three beings, also serving as the setting, the connection, and the introduction.

Word Count: 456