Gretel finishes both chickens primarily because she is selfish and does not think about others. Her thoughts revolve around her own enjoyment and satisfaction rather than considering the consequences of her actions or the needs of her master. She rationalizes her eating by convincing herself that the food should not go to waste, which reflects her self-centered reasoning.
Read the passage from "Clever Gretel."
She ran to the window, to see if the master was not coming with his guest, but she saw no one, and went back to the fowls and thought: "One of the wings is burning! I had better take it off and eat it." So she cut it off, ate it, and enjoyed it, and when she had done, she thought: "The other must go down, too, or else master will observe that something is missing." When the two wings were eaten, she went and looked for her master, and did not see him.
It suddenly occurred to her: "Who knows? They are perhaps not coming at all, and have turned in somewhere." Then she said: "Well, Gretel, enjoy yourself, one fowl has been cut into and eat it up entirely; when it is eaten you will have some peace, why should these good gifts be spoilt?" So she ate up the one chicken in great glee. When one of the chickens was swallowed down, and still her master did not come, Gretel looked at the other and said: "What one is, the other should be likewise, the two go together; what's right for the one is right for the other." So she let the second chicken follow the first.
Why does Gretel finish both chickens?
She is selfish and does not think about others.
She is hungry and has not eaten in a long time.
She is angry at the master and wants revenge.
She is ashamed and refuses to serve bad food.
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