Maternal Figures Win

In the fairytale world it is quite common for characters to go through transformation; however, The Juniper Tree does stand out in the way that the boy is transformed only after he dies. Let's look at another tale that deals with the aspect of transformation: Brother and Sister. Two kids, a boy and a girl, decide to leave home because their stepmother is an evil witch. The transformation of the boy into a fawn happens only after he drinks from a spring that his stepmother had cursed (going against his sister's advice). After the maiden is discovered by a king and married, she again encounters an evil mother figure, her mother-in-law. And after she and her ugly daughter do their evil deeds, they are found out by the king and both killed. When nothing is left of the mother except ashes, the fawn returns to his human form.

So let's compare both stories. Both boys can talk as animals and both return human. What differences are there then? The brother's transformation in Brother and Sister involves a curse and the boy ignoring his sister's concerns. In The Juniper Tree, the boy is transformed because the devil "took hold of her [the stepmother] and influenced her feelings toward the boy" and she later killed him, which upon he turned into a bird. But how did he get there...what events lead up to him becoming a bird?

I think it may be important to note that the boy's actual mother is buried under the juniper tree, especially considering her death was caused by his birth. After the boy is dead, the sister collects his bones and places them beneath the tree as well. As soon as she does this the tree moves as if it's clapping its hands in joy. Perhaps the mother is happy to see her son. And it only makes sense that the boy is turned into a bird, to me at least, considering a tree is a home for these particular animals. The song the bird sings also supports this idea because the last two lines are: "and laid beneath the juniper tree. Tweet, tweet! What a lovely bird I am!" The song seems to leave a gap, some missing piece of info, in between these lines. By doing this it implies that one is contingent upon the other, despite the fact the song doesn't explain the actual connection. So after he sings the song for a few times, receives his gifts and presents them to his sister, father, and then evil stepmother, he is restored to human form.

So in sum, I'm trying to make the case that the boy is able to transform after death, if you can call it that, simply because his sister placed his bones near his deceased mother. This true maternal love is what allows the boy to become a bird, and the moral of the tale is that evil women never win. Through the pure characters of the mother and the sister, maternal qualities are displayed and prevail against the stepmother.

What are you guys thoughts on this? Did you all understand what I was trying to say?