How does the author support the main idea in this paragraph? turning to the tales of the first edition, a reader might notice that many of the stories such as "the hand with the knife,” "how some children played at slaughtering,” and "the children of famine,” have nothing to do with fairies or happy endings. instead, these are stark narratives about brutal living conditions in the nineteenth century. for instance, "the children of famine” begins this way: once upon a time there was a woman with two daughters, and they had become so poor that they no longer had even a piece of bread to put in their mouths. their hunger became so great that their mother became unhinged and desperate. indeed, she said to her children, "i’ve got to kill you so that i can get something to eat.”