Das weiße Band redux

There has been continual discussion about the film, and there's a scene where the relatively young schoolteacher (who is also the narrator) shows his interest in the young governant Eva, who was just fired from her job by the Baroness. So the 17-year-old young woman went to the schoolteacher's place, because she had nowhere else to go; and to stay there just overnight in order to leave for home the next morning.

Both the schoolteacher and Eva are very fond of one another, so he proposes that they go into the woods to have a picnic, which idea Eva fearfully repels.

In some discussions, it was suggested that Eva probably knew that there were children in the woods, and that they were trouble.

Eva's fears

It was indeed because the children were in the woods, and this is what Eva was afraid of. The narrator also observes that while after school the little kids dispersed to their homes, the elder students went into the woods right after school.

Eva knew about the children in the woods, the Baroness knew somehow or at least suspected, and so did the Pastor; each in their own way.

That is why the Baroness had gone at first on a vacation, and then to maintain a longer stay in Italy, because it was really her escape from the village. She ony returned briefly to check if anything had changed. As the life of her son was threatened, she had no other choice than to leave in order to protect herself and her children.

The Baroness had Eva fired not because of any pretense, but because she knew that Eva was in danger, and firing Eva would force Eva to leave the village. The fact that a girl from outside the village was hired to look after the Baroness's two babies, meant that the Baroness did not have any trust in the many young women native to the village.

Maybe Eva's fate was of little consequence to the Baroness, but she didn't seem to need Eva's babysitting services anymore, because she might have thought it safer to look after the babies herself.

The Doctor, the Midwife, and their illegitimate child

Someone has the Doctor and the Midwife's illegitimate child's eyes destroyed. I think that the midwife was next, and this was just a preparation for things to come, so that the small child couldn't witness who would hurt the midwife. Note that the small child indicates high fear just as the doctor prepares to leave.

There is another version, whereby the Midwife willfully hurts her own child once sired by the Doctor whom she loved, but who emotionally very hurtfully rejected her. The child was the symbol of their love, and the Midwife was intent on hurting the child as a form of revenge. We see her coming out of the forest, and we see later how afraid the child is of being left with only his mother.

It's duly possible that the Midwife left the child in the forest, perhaps thinking that it might only scare the child and the Doctor. But as the child is found damaged, then I came to a thought that he was found by the youth in the forest. The reason the child's eyes are destroyed is that he inadvertently became a witness to the kids in the forest, and his seeing the children was to be avoided.

Another version is that the Midwife hurt her child, and left him in the forest — presumably to die, because the child no longer served the purpose of tying the Doctor to the Midwife. Unfortunately for the Midwife, the child is found by kids in the forest, and returned to the mother, of whom the child is really afraid of to everyone present. The very next day, the Doctor leaves early, taking the child, and the Midwife is left alone.

Because it was the youth who the other night found the child in a poor state, the Midwife commandeers the bicycle from the Teacher, having promptly realized that the kids are soon going to take their revenge on her. That attempt eventually transpires in a scene where a bunch of kids are looking for the child around the Midwife's house, which is really a ruse to [i]get[/i] at the Midwife herself.

Now, the Doctor realizes that the mother of his child has been far too reckless with the child, so it's safe to assume that the Doctor left early next morning, took the child, and also because the child needed treatment in the city.

Whether the Midwife herself did anything or not, she realises that because her child was in the forest and was hurt, someone had to have been there, and it could only have been the children who were in the forest, given that most everyone knew that the older ones went there after hours. Since that someone, then, was also aware of this, she comes to a rather simple conclusion that she's next.

That the Doctor left the practice and the village in a hurry and with their child, is a sign for her to leave, too, given that the practice was closed, and if she still wants to ever see her child again. It's possible that she had the chore of closing her home.

If we suppose that the Midwife was reasonably innocent, then both the Doctor and the Midwife arranged for the Doctor to go with the child on a postal carriage. The Midwife was left behind only because there was no more space left in/on the carriage. Assuming that the postal carriage came by only once a day, the Midwife planned to ride on the next one. But then she discovers from some distance that the children roam around her house, by which time she concretely realizes who the culprits are, and that they are there after her. Desperate, she takes the bicycle away from the Teacher in order to escape.

At least from the Doctor's perspective, he finally takes ownership of his illegitimate offspring, and leaves. Since the Doctor didn't take the Midwife [i]with[/i] him (if we suppose there [i]was[/i] enough space in/on the carriage), then is a sign that he was looking to part ways with her, as she has shown herself to be very irresponsible with their child.

The Pastor and his children

The Pastor most likely knew what was going on with his children, but didn't know which of the elder children was responsible, so he forced the two of them to wear white ribbons; for if anything happened, his chilren and their whereabouts were easily identifiable. I think this happens after the Doctor falls down the horse.

After that, most dangerous events happen in the dark of the night, because the easily-identifiable white ribbon constricts the pastor's elder childrens' movements. I suppose the Pastor's child or cihldren still call the shots.

The Pastor even has his elder son tied to the bed on the pretense of his touching himself inapporpriately. I think that the son is in fact innocent, and his crying (as seen on the poster) is not because he got the white ribbon, but because he knows that his sister is the culprit, and he is innocent, and he is dismayed that he has been falsely accussed. Strangely enough, he ends up defending his older sister anyway.

The fact that the Pastor only has his son tied down at night, is his way of finding out the culpability of his daughter, which in short time emerges to be true; because her brother is tied down, and she isn't, while dark things happen. The daughter at some point realizes this, but cannot stop herself, because she has a posse to run.

The Pastor gave absolution to his daughter not because she deserved it, but because he was afraid of her, hence his momentary hesitation when performing a ritual on her at church near the end of the film. Killing the pastor's bird was simply a warning.