The tale of Little Red Riding Hood (categorized as tale type 333--Little Red Riding Hood, or The Glutton) is one known to most children growing up; it is a narrative that has evolved epically throughout its incarnations, but at the center of the story is a story of sexual maturation which cannot be erased. By giving a young girl responsibility, we are able to see what she does with it--that is, by all logic, she squanders it on her own personal gain. The selfishness of the child, as contrasted by the danger and sexual predation of the wolf, provides a cautionary story for young girls--that is, to not “provide dinner for a wolf” (Perrault). In Little Red Riding Hood, we see several distinct types of selfishness--most notably gluttony and
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In the Grimm version, Little Red Cap learns from her mistakes and is allowed to live, taking the moral of the Perrault version to heart and learning not to trust the wolf--whether he is a true wolf or a metaphor for male sexual desires. We see her selfishness reversed; in Little Red Cap, she is given a second chance, later taking more pastries to her grandmother and coming across a second wolf, but outsmarting him (because, of course, she had heeded her mother’s warnings this time, and was therefore not at fault.) Red Riding Hood’s redemption and ultimate subservience is what saves her in the end; the second time the wolf attacks, she has learned from her mistakes, has withdrawn her selfish attitude, and is ready to go down the path without …show more content…
Everyone suffers from their selfish actions, and it’s only through the continued focus of the ever-changing plot towards something moralistic that the selfishness ever reaches a head. Before, the selfishness is pointless and mundane--there is no redemption, only violence and, in the end, a moral--or not even that. As the plot thickens, as the sexual overtones die out, we experience something different--something not only focused on the utter destruction of a family, but the rebuilding of it. And so the selfishness is carried away; the girl learns to behave, and think of others, and, as such, outsmarts the wolf, getting her happy ending, and does not, in the end, provide dinner for the
In the Grimm version, Little Red Cap learns from her mistakes and is allowed to live, taking the moral of the Perrault version to heart and learning not to trust the wolf--whether he is a true wolf or a metaphor for male sexual desires. We see her selfishness reversed; in Little Red Cap, she is given a second chance, later taking more pastries to her grandmother and coming across a second wolf, but outsmarting him (because, of course, she had heeded her mother’s warnings this time, and was therefore not at fault.) Red Riding Hood’s redemption and ultimate subservience is what saves her in the end; the second time the wolf attacks, she has learned from her mistakes, has withdrawn her selfish attitude, and is ready to go down the path without …show more content…
Everyone suffers from their selfish actions, and it’s only through the continued focus of the ever-changing plot towards something moralistic that the selfishness ever reaches a head. Before, the selfishness is pointless and mundane--there is no redemption, only violence and, in the end, a moral--or not even that. As the plot thickens, as the sexual overtones die out, we experience something different--something not only focused on the utter destruction of a family, but the rebuilding of it. And so the selfishness is carried away; the girl learns to behave, and think of others, and, as such, outsmarts the wolf, getting her happy ending, and does not, in the end, provide dinner for the