"What's That In My Eye?" - A fragment of sorts

The start of "The Snow Queen" was enjoyably unconventional. Unlike the prior works we surveyed, Anderson provides a premise for the magic in his story. It is not the nonsense of Wonderland. Anderson's magic is logical. It speaks to something practical deep within me and lends a strange comfort I can't  quite put my finger on.

A concrete grounding in Christian ideology helps chisel out a less abstract dreamworld than the abstract evil of a wolf in a forest. The grounding strengthens Anderson's strange logic. However, it also lends an ongoing narrative in between his stories. The common religion puts all his stories in the same world. 

Still, the infusion of strong religious themes also has potential disadvantages. Using religious figures in fictional roles is almost sacrilegious. As a child, can one differentiate between Anderson's fairy tales and the Bible? The task of explaining intricate layering of Anderson's fiction becomes necessary for a parent who wants to raise a pious Christian child.

The religious theme also lends an adult meaning to the story. While a child probably would not find this interesting compared to the strong driving plot, I, as an adult reader found particular enjoyment in decoding Anderson's symbolism. For example, the failed taking of the mirror up to heaven strangely reminded me of the Tower of Babel. 

What struck me most about the chapter is Anderson's amazing ability to explain. "Some people even got a fragment of the mirror in their hearts, and this was quite horrible - the heart became just like a lump of ice." This terrific explanation for the existence of evil is also an interesting metaphor for aging. Do we all eventually get hit by a fragment of a mirror? Lewis Carroll's sadness in part comes from an external struggle with the frozen hearts of those around him, and with a freezing heart within.