Academic Summary of Godfather Death

Academic Summary In Godfather Death, a poor man’s thirteenth child is in need of a Godfather. With the poor man’s consent, Death became the thirteenth child’s Godfather. When the boy came of age, Death takes him into the woods and presents him a herb as a gift that will make the young man a famous physician. The herb is able to cure the sick with the approval of Death. However, Death worn the young to not use the herb against Death’s will or punishment will arise. The poor man’s thirteenth child, the protagonist of the story, intentions is to marry the king’s daughter and rule the kingdom. However, Death, the antagonist of the story, essentially will restrict the young man to carry out his goal of marrying the king’s daughter and to rule over the kingdom. Eventually, the young man becomes a famous physician and saves many lives with the herb. Unfortunately when the King’s daughter was severely ill, the young physician betrays Death’s will by curing the King’s daughter. As a result the young man died. The conflict between the young man and Death is human vs. supernatural. In addition, the protagonist goes through a moral journey. He starts off obeying Death by not breaking the compromise and, as a result, the man becomes a successful physician with money and fame. “He should have remembered his godfather’s warning, but he was so infatuated by the princess’s great beauty and the prospect of becoming her husband that he threw all thought to the winds.” (Grimm). Through his act of stubbornness and selfishness he violates Death’s will twice by saving the princess. He is then convicted with death as his punishment. An unexpected element placed in the story is Death’s response to the physician’s betrayal. The godfather “who makes everyone equal”, does not discriminate from one he personally knows and one that is a stranger. Towards the end of the story, Death shows his true side and ends his godson’s life. In Death’s mind everyone is treated equally ‘“without