The thin child knew enough fairy stories to know that a prohibition in a story is only there to be broken. The first humans were fated to eat the apple. The dice were loaded against them. The grandfather was pleased with himself. The thin child found no one in this story with whom to sympathise. Except maybe the snake, which had no asked to be made use of as a temper. The snake wanted simply to coil about in the branches
The thin child is aware that in fairy tales, rules are often meant to be disregarded, as illustrated by the story of the first humans who were destined to consume the forbidden apple. This suggests a sense of inevitability, where the characters seem trapped by fate, while the grandfather feels self-satisfied in this scenario. The child expresses a lack of connection with the other characters, finding them unsympathetic in their roles within the tale.
Interestingly, the only character the thin child can relate to is the snake, which represents an innocent desire to simply exist in its surroundings without being manipulated. The snake's longing to coil around branches symbolizes a longing for freedom and detachment from the narrative's moral complexities. This perspective highlights the tension between innocence and the burden of expectation imposed by the story's structure.