Gretel in Darkness

“Gretel in Darkness” provides a sobering look at how physical survival isn’t always a guarantee of moral, psychological, or emotional safety. The poem begins with a straightforward declaration: “This is the world we wanted” (Line 1), which immediately places Gretel (the speaker) as the authoritative, central figure. The “we” refers to her and her brother, Hansel, and asserts that their current reality is the one they “wanted,” the existence that they fought for. However, the tone quickly shifts with Gretel’s next words: “All who would have seen us dead / are dead” (Lines 2-3). In other words, after fighting for their survival (established later in the poem with references to “kill[ing]” the witch), life has not become any better. In fact, the people who might have been there to witness their deaths are now dead, and the reality of surviving this trauma only inflicts further torment on the speaker.

Despite reaching safety, behind the locked doors of their father’s house, Gretel cannot escape her haunting past: “Now, far from women's arms / and memory of women, in our father's hut / we sleep, are never hungry. / Why do I not forget?” (Lines 6-10). Here, the children have received every imaginable comfort of being home—warm food, protection, a father—yet the question of a past still lingers in Gretel’s being.

As the poem progresses, Gretel remains clearly disturbed by the fact that no one—not even her brother Hansel—speaks about what happened in the Black Forest. Gretel feels isolated and suffers from despair and depression. When she seeks emotional comfort from Hansel, he is “not there” (Line 20); she must learn how to cope with her demons by herself. The poem’s closing image of “that black forest and the fire in earnest” (Line 24) signals an ominous tone that is inescapable for the speaker.

It is unclear by the end whether Gretel can overcome her trauma, but when she says, “we are there still and it is real, real” (Line 23) in the penultimate line, it indicates that Gretel remains trapped by the horror of her actions, even though it meant liberating her and her brother from death. This irony underscores how, in life, people must sometimes make grave decisions which might ensure survival, but which might inevitably damage the ability to walk through the world without scars.