Throughout time, mankind has forged stories and legends to explain the unknown. As years went along the stories and tall tales were passed down to each generation. Each recount of the inherited stories are always told differently, how the story was told usually depended on the person and their particular region of habitance. Thus leading to hundreds of different versions of a single story told throughout the world, written and told by different people. Not only are these stories told as pure entertainment, they serve as wise life lessons and set examples for children when they were eventually introduced to society. These stories are so prominent in human history that even to this day the same stories that were told to children centuries ago …show more content…
are told to ours today. One of the hundreds of fairy tales that have been told over and over again with countless various versions as time passed and is cherished as an all time classic today, is “Little Red Riding Hood”. This unique story, in particular, has a very interesting history, due to the fact that this fairy tale has a copious amount of archetypal elements and moral value. “Little Red Cap”, a german interpretation of “Little Red Riding Hood”, written by the Brothers Grimm, had been drafted in 1812 Germany and first published as “Kinder- und Hausmärchen.”, or “Children’s and Household Tales.” Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, commonly referred to as the Brothers Grimm, were known for writing practically all of the reputable fairy tales to date.
“Little Red Cap” quickly became a household tale among children and adults, due to the imperative lessons that it directs to children and their parents'. Behind the initial story lies a message which, ”Cautions young girls to mind their mothers and not stray from the path to wander in the forbidden woods” (Rholetter). The forest represents any unfamiliar place that children can easily become lost within, while the path to grandmother’s house can represent a place the child is accustomed to. As soon as Little Red Cap begins her journey, she is confronted by a wolf. When they first meet, the wolf acts as a polite gentleman would towards any young lady which earns Little Red Cap’s trust instantly, "Little Red Cap, just where does your grandmother live? said the Wolf. Little Red Cap eagerly replied, Her house is a good quarter hour from here in the woods, under the three large oak trees. There's a hedge of hazel bushes there. You must know the place”(Grimm). This portrays children being subjected to the danger of strangers acting as friends to others for their own personal gains. The Brothers Grimm version of “ …show more content…
Little Red Riding Hood” has spoken to all types of people over the world and has instilled a newfound sense of security, due to its admirable teachings and rapid growth over the many years since its creation. There is a bountiful amount of archetypal elements within “Little Red Cap”. As the story begins, Little Red Cap must travel through the forest, making her way to her grandmother’s house to bring her food, because her grandmother has fallen ill. Before Little Red Cap leaves, her mother warns, “Behave yourself on the way, and do not leave the path, or you might fall down and break the glass, and then there will be nothing for your sick grandmother"(Grimm). The forest is an archetypal example representing fear, evil, and being lost, while Little Red represents and innocence and the naivety of a child. This example can be tied back to a time period in history where children were not as supervised. Coincidentally playing children would be subconsciously led astray in the woods, and were never to return. This contributed in the forest becoming a place of evil and eerie atmosphere within fairy tales. The color black has many different meanings in stories from chaos, mystery, and the unknown to a before death experience, the unconscious, and evil. For this story particular, black is the color the wolf is portrayed as within the story is and wicked and evil creature by nature. When the wolf first meets Little Red Cap, she explains to him that she is carrying food and drink to her sick grandmother. In the process of conversing with Little Red Cap, he tricks her into deviating off the path in the woods, he thinks to himself, "Now there is a tasty bite for me. Just how are you going to catch her? Then he said, Listen, Little Red Cap, heavn't you seen the beautiful flowers that are blossoming in the woods? Why don't you go and take a look? And I don't believe you can hear how beautifully the birds are singing. You are walking along as though you were on your way to school in the village. It is very beautiful in the woods" (Grimm). The Wolf persuades Little Red Cap uses the opportunity to whisk himself away to where Little Red Cap’s grandmother resides and preys on the defenceless old woman. The Hero archetype is shown when Little Red Cap and her grandmother are assaulted and eaten by the wolf as a passing huntsman notices and thinks to himself, "He has eaten the grandmother, but perhaps she still can be saved. I won't shoot him," thought the huntsman (Grimm). The huntsman represents heroism when he saves Little Red Cap and her grandmother from the wolf’s gullet by slicing him open with a pair of scissors and pulling them out, saving them from an imminent demise. “Little Red Cap” is a fairy tale that etched itself a place in forever in history due to its commendable uses of archetypal elements. As with most stories, there is a lesson to be learned and “Little Red Cap” is no exception.
This fairy tale was most likely told to children to scare them into obedience. It registered to children essentially as a warning to listen to what your parents say and not to talk to strangers. Just as Little Red Cap subjects herself and her grandmother to danger and is saved by a passing huntsman, she told herself, "As long as I live, I will never leave the path and run off into the woods by myself if mother tells me not to", promising to herself to not be as reckless in the future (Grimm). Little Red Cap also uses her past experiences to learn from her mistakes. The second time she makes a dangerous journey to her grandmother's house, she encounters a second wolf with similar motives at the first. This time, however, Little Red Cap makes a beeline straight to her grandmother’s and makes sure she to not stray from the path once. When Little Red Cap reaches her grandmother’s, she exclaims, "If we hadn't been on a public road, he would have eaten me up"(Grimm). These lessons connect with children, cautioning that the world outside their individual spaces is a dangerous place and should not be taken lightly. Even to this day, this story is told to relate to children and stresses a point to not disobey your parents and stray far from
home. The simple fairy tale, “Little Red Cap”, in truth, is a complex allegory full of rich history, archetypal elements, different morals and important life lessons through numerous interpretations. Researching this time honored-tale has revealed a plethora of new information to me. The most defining impression that this fairy tale has taught over the years would have to be how it enlightens children to obey their parents wishes because the parents is looking out for the child’s best interests. I am not unfamiliar to “Little Red Cap”. I can recall reading this fairy tale and not understanding anything important underneath the text. If I were only to look closer, I would have noticed the message the fairy tale attempted to transmit.
Stories are a means of passing on information, acting as a medium to transport cultural heritage and customs forward into the future. In his essay titled "You'll Never Believe What Happened," King says that, "The truth about stories is that that's all we are” (King Essay 2). Contained within this statement is a powerful truth: without stories, a society transcending the limitations of time could not exist. Cultures might appear, but they would inevitably die away without a means of preservation. Subsequent generations would be tasked with creating language, customs, and moral laws, all from scratch. In a way, stories form the core of society's existence.
Little Red Riding Hood, by Paul Galdone is a children's book generally for early elementary reading level. It focuses on a young girl,Little Red Riding Hood, who was instructed by her mother to deliver cake and wine to her ill grandmother. Her mother strictly told her not to speak to anyone but the Little Red Riding Hood did anyway. She spoke to a wolf , who questioned her about where she was going. Not knowing any better Little Red Ridding Hood
This modern fairy tale contains diverse characters but none of them are as important as the grandmother. In fact, through her narration the reader gets the basic information concerning the familial context. The story revolves around a grandmother, a mother and a granddaughter, which thus sets the point of view of the story, the grandmother is the narrator therefore the reader gets her perception. Besides the domestic context, the lack of other contextual clues, such as the time or the location of the story, gives room to her story and her final purpose: teaching and, at the same time, protecting her grand-daughter from risks represented by men here symbolized by a wolf. The way this unnamed grandmother reveals her life exemplifies two properties of fairy tale as mentioned by Marina Warner in “The Old Wives' Tale”: “Fairy tales exchange knowledge [using morals] between an older [most of the time feminine] voice of experience and a younger audience” (314). As suggested in the text, fairy tales are a way to teach insights of life through simple stories directed to, most of the time, younger generations. Most of the time because fairy tales' moral work on dif...
Everyone’s childhood was filled with fairytales, and stories that will forever be programed into our minds even memory that continues from generation to generations. You’ll remember in school your first book were both the three little pigs and even Little Red Riding Hood. Yes, good old fairytales who knew when you was reading the most famous little red riding hood it was actually a lot history behind the tale. Just to allow a slight backstory about the tale we were taught of the story going like this little girl goes to bring her grandmother a basket of sweet on the way she encounters a wolf she tells him she on her way to her grandmother’s house from there the wolf bets the little to the grandmothers house eats the hopeless grandmother then
“I've told her and I've told her: daughter, you have to teach that child the facts of life before it's too late” (Hopkinson 1). These are the first three lines of Nalo Hopkinson's fairy tale “Riding the Red”, a modern adaptation of Charles Perrault's “Little Red Riding Hood”. Perrault provided a moral to his fairy tales, the one from this one is to prevent girls from men's nature. In Hopkinson's adaptation, the goal remains the same: through the grandmother biographic narration, the author advances a revisited but still effective moral: beware of wolfs even though they seem innocent.
By the end of the tale, Little Red Cap says to herself, “Never again will you stray from the path and go into the woods, when your mother has forbidden it.” (Grimm 16). Little Red Cap realizes she should have listened to her mother and followed what she was told. This relates to the mother staying with her husband because he came around eventually to love her and make her
Weldon-Lasiter, Cynthia. Review of Little Red Riding Hood: A Newfangled Fairy Tale. Book Links. 11:4 (Feb/Mar, 2002):11. . ProQuest Direct. Penn. Coll. Kib., Williamsport. 22 August 2004. <http://www.proquest.umi.com/pdqweb>.
Though the evils of the world may discourage us from reaching our full potential, fairytales such as Little Snow-White by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm teach us that good will always triumph over evil. As many tales of its kind, Little Snow-White uses a number of literary devices to attract a younger audience and communicate to them a lesson or moral that will remain with them throughout their lives. Since children have such an abstract stream of thought, it is vital to use language and devices that will appeal to them as to keep them interested in the story.
Myths the stories of old, how the ancients explained the creation of the world and how the human race came to be. Myths can be viewed as outdated and no longer needed. However, myths are still important today. This is the point that Joseph Campbell, and Bill Mayer discuss at Skywalker Ranch in The Power of Myth. Joseph Campbell famous mythologist is interviewed by Bill Mayer about myths from different cultures and how they are still important today. This interview makes the point that myths, although centuries old are still used today, in both popular media and other aspects of culture.
Fairy-legends in particular often reflected the people’s fears and became a way for them to explain things they just could not understand. These fairy legends were told very long ago before people had an understanding of science so when an unexpected death or a child went missing fairy legends were created to explain this. People’s anxieties were greatly reflected in fairy legends such as giving birth to a child and what had to be done, children being taken and replaced by changelings, women getting taken away, and children being abducted.
When anyone thinks about a children’s fairy tale, the most common one that comes to mind is “Little Red Riding Hood”. Fairy tales convey a hidden message to children. Like how in “Little Red Riding Hood” the message is to not talk to strangers. Fairy tales have been created to help children understand things in a fun and enjoyable way. Not every kid can learn and understand things the same way; it all depends on what they have been taught and exposed to in their life.
The book was first published in 1812 hence, these tales were previously transferred orally and among adults through the long nights. It is also possible that fairy tales were used to warn the children of particular ideas such as in Christina Rossetti’s ‘Goblin Market’. The integration of explicit ideas into these tales suggests that their disruptive nature could reflect the reality of the 19th century. In ‘Little Red Cap’ the most evident sexual symbol is the use of the colour red as this is associated with sensuality, love and passion. Through this realisation, the image of the wolf becomes an even darker and dominant figure: ‘Once the wolf had satisfied his desires’ (1812:15). Not only does he commit an act of violence but he also craves the consumption and therefore sexual gratification of an adolescent (Little Red Cap) by challenging her innocence. In ‘Hansel and Gretel’ a similar scenario is presented through the witch’s cannibalistic desire to cook and consume the children. The witch explains: “He’s staying outside in a shed, waiting to be fattened up. When he’s put on enough weight, I’ll eat him”. (1812:189) This clearly shows her intentions and the wish-fulfilment that she would obtain from it. Sexual innuendos in these fairy tales occur regularly and are distinctly visible in ‘Little Red Cap’. The wolf is said to think “That tender young woman will make a dainty
In the beginning of the story we are introduced to a young girl and the setting for the story is laid out. It is through the setting and background information we can compare life to today and the way we live. The young girl is traveling through the woods with her grandmothers cow at dusk. “The woods were already filled with shadows one June evening, just before eight o'clock” (Jewet) The girl is about the age of nine and she is
“Don’t ever take candy from a stranger or get into his car” this line has been drilled into our young little brains from teachers to parents. We have grown up being told never to trust a stranger because “stranger danger” one of my favorite lines as a child. Not only was this directed to us with our parents and teachers, but the classic folktale, “Little Red Riding Hood” has been taught to young children for many years. The stories moral is not to trust strangers and do not associate with them for any reason. While reading Perrault’s version of the classic folk tale, his moral is that children, especially young girl’s, can be eaten by wolves by just talking and trusting a stranger. He points out that women are more
... stories show symbolism for Little Red learning and maturing. The moral in Perrault?s story is weaker, because it ends in tragedy with Little Red being eaten and dying. In the Grimm brother?s story, because the woodsman comes to their rescue, Little Red learns from her mistakes. She knows not to wander off the path when going to her grandmother?s house, and she learns that talking to strangers can lead to trouble. Even if most children will never encounter a talking wolf, it shows that talking to strangers can put children in harms way Also, the moral of Perrault?s story addresses only ?attractive, well bred young ladies,? (Schlib, 2003, 669) which may not lead some readers to identify with the moral. Also, a child reading this story may not understand the relation between a wolf eating the little girl and talking to strangers, because it is written as a fairy tale.