# The Young Giant explained — Household Tales

> Chapter companion for Household Tales by Jacob Grimm.

## What happens

A thumb-sized boy is taken by a giant, suckled for six years, and grows into a giant of immense strength. He returns home, but his parents reject him. He then works as a smith's apprentice and later as a head-servant on a farm, where he performs superhuman feats and demands blows as wages, terrifying his employers.

## Themes in this chapter

### Transformation and Redemption

Thumbling transforms from a tiny boy into a giant of immense strength, though his rejection by his parents and his violent dealings with employers suggest a lack of redemption.

### Greed and Its Downfall

The bailiff and the smith are both greedy, trying to exploit the young giant's strength for free labor, but they face consequences when he demands his agreed-upon blows.

## Character check-ins

### Thumbling

The tiny boy who is taken by a giant and grows into a giant himself after being suckled for six years.

### the servant

The young giant works as a head-servant on a farm, demanding blows as wages and performing incredible feats of strength.

### the master

The greedy smith who hires the young giant as a journeyman but is kicked away after the giant's first blow destroys the anvil.

## Key lines

> The giant, however, carried him home, suckled him, and Thumbling grew and became tall and strong after the manner of giants.

The giant took Thumbling home, nursed him, and he grew to be as tall and strong as a giant.

_This describes Thumbling's transformation under the giant's care._

> The youth, however, unharnessed the horses, and drew the plough himself, saying, 'Just go home, father, and bid my mother make ready a large dish of food, and in the meantime I will go over the field.'

The young giant took the horses off the plough and pulled it himself, telling his father to go home and have his mother prepare a big meal while he finished the field.

_This shows the young giant's superhuman strength and his desire to help his family despite their rejection._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se/chapters/the-young-giant
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se/chapters