Read and enjoy! I hope it interests you as much as it interests me!
You have read the story, and you probably know it well. The story of Little Red Riding Hood, the Wolf, and her grandmother. Well, thanks to my current english teacher, I have obtained a whole new perspective on the subject of this story. Let's start with the jist of things.
Ok, so we know this much. Little Red Riding Hood goes to take a basket to her sick grandmother for a nice lunch, and her mother tells her not to "dilly dally" so to speak, or talk to strangers. So she goes out into the woods and starts to pick flowers, and as she does this, the wolf slowly creeps up on her. When he confronts her they say a few words and then she is once again on her way. As she takes the path to her grandmother's house, the wolf takes a shortcut, eats the grandmother, and poses as her. Little Red Riding Hood knocks on the door, we go through the big eyes, big teeth situation. Then, just as the wolf is about to scarf down our poor little heroin, a woodsman shows up and saves both Little Red and her grandmother.
If we were young, we would take this as the "Don't talk to strangers" lecture, but there are many perspectives on the story. Please note: I am not trying to make anyone believe anything about the story. I am merely presenting different perspectives that can be taken on what, to me, is a very intriguing subject.
Racism:
The "colors" of the characters can be taken into account as one perspective. The wolf is usually pictured as black, Little Red Riding Hood is red, and the woodsman is considered white. This story can be construed as a racist statement simply because of the colors of the characters. The wolf is the attacker, the woodsman is the savior. The wolf is normally pictured as black, while the woodsman is normally pictured as white. In taking a racial perspective, what is the outcome? See any connections yet? I thought so. This is not to say that it is a story about that, but it does prove a point.
Feminism:
The victim in the story is, of course, Little Red and also her grandmother. This seems to be a "damsel in distress" story. Of course, the woodsman is the brave hero that saves the day in the end. Watch any old west movies lately? Seems familiar enough.
Archetypal:
Of course, you could look at Little Red Riding Hood as life. There are many different temptations along the road of life; all kinds of wolfs waiting to drag you into a situation that could be potentially dangerous. But it is so important that no matter what dangers drag you down that dark tunnel, you should get back on the path of life and keep going. Something good may come in the end.
Once again, I urge you to have an open mind about this subject. These ideas were presented to me, and I thought that it was very interesting that in one story there could be so many meanings and so many different perspectives. I did not write this to offend anyone, but wrote it in hopes that you would find the analysis on a short, childhood story as interesting as I did. I would love to hear your thoughts, and if you think any differently about any of the subjects. I would also like to know if you have your own perspective, because there are many. Thank you for taking the time to read over the three perspectives that we were shown that really made an impact on me.
