little red riding hood personal essay

Little Red Riding Hood by Philip Pullman had an interesting effect on me. The original story written in the 17th-century is a story that I will continuously remember because of its simple moral trying to pioneer “caution against rape”. I think this is a very important moral because it is an event that occurs globally to lots of women and this action also strikes fear and creates a lack of confidence in women in their surroundings. But what I found interesting about Pullman’s version of this story was his change in moral to “don’t talk to strangers”. Since the moral of the story is to not talk to strangers it displays the character in a foolish fashion and since the main character is female and a child, this can play into sexism and ageism. I think the moral leads to many complications in our current society because of how much discussion and action is being taken for female rights and child rights.

At the end of the story, Pullman included an analytical note which I thought was very fascinating. To be able to see his views on his story and previously written ones, for example, the story by the Brothers Grimm was interesting to me. In the analytical note, Pullman discusses the appearance of the huntsman in the story. In the story by the Brothers Grimm, the huntsman is portrayed more realistically (like a real human being and not a prince charming) because Little Red Riding Hood doesn’t get rescued by a “brave huntsman” as Pullman identified his huntsman to be. But instead she dies by which the story justifies it as, if girls invite and get tempted by wolves, they deserve what they get. Jack Zipes, known as a professor of literature, had stated something similar when discussing his views on this story, saying “ 'Little girls who invite wolves into their parlor deserve what they get.' Now that's a very clear moral and it's very sexist, obviously,”. I highly agree with what Zipes had said, this is a very sexist viewpoint and by what I understand this is like saying, for example, rape is allowed if a girl wore a skirt, since the skirt would be tempting for the “wolves”. This is the complete opposite of what the original story intended the message to be, but this is what I understood of it.

In our current society and throughout history there has been a power struggle for women because of the differences in genders. I think one of the factors of this struggle is due to the fact that there is so much advertisement justifying it as correct. As stated previously, the 17th-century version of Little Red Riding Hood was actually originally told as a fairy tale to caution against rape. But was later in the 18th century, rewritten by the Brothers Grimm with the moral “to listen to your parents and don’t talk to strangers'', which was thought to be more appropriate for the 19th century and was most likely created to satisfy the public. Since writing and fairy tales have been a popular way to communicate to the public for decades, this story ended up being used as “advertisement” for sexism. Although, this has become a very common occurrence in many of the classic fairy tales because of the Brothers Grimm’s influence. What I find ironic and quite disgusting is that male authors are writing about a female character, turning it into a story highlighting sexism, making it popular around the younger generations, and then basically completely erasing the existence of the original story about female struggles because this story became so popular many didn’t know about the original. The moral of the story by the Brothers Grimm and other fairy tales demonstrate the societal split between women and men.

In Little Red Riding Hood by Philip Pullman a sentence that really stuck to me was “The wolf thought, ‘Now, this dainty young thing looks a very tasty mouthful.’ ” on page 138. If you take this in perspective of the “wolf” representing a male person this is quite disturbing to read. Not only for the Little Red Riding Hood representing females but also that males are represented here as this “wolf”. This is definitely targeting female inferiority but they also make males look very superior which is putting these gender stereotypes on them that are very evident throughout this fairy tale. By looking at the diction alone, the wolf is referring to Little Red Riding Hood as “this dainty young thing”; “this” making her seem irrelevant, “dainty” making her seem weak and feeble, “young” clearly portraying that she is under-aged, and “thing” making her seem inhuman. This alone already shows how little the wolf thinks of her as a person but then the imagery “a very tasty mouthful” clearly displays this form of lust.

In Little Red Cap, Carol Ann Duffy also explores the idea of lust but more forward than Pullman’s approach. Duffy’s poem is about the sexual awakening and coming-of-age of a 16-year-old girl. It is a very alluring poem which gives Little Red Cap a newfound independence, whereas other Little Red Riding Hood stories show a naive girl being led astray by a man, Little Red Cap has a sense of sexual curiosity which leads her to her independence. Instead of Duffy portraying a loss of purity she exhibits the experience as a powerful awakening. Duffy also explores the roles of predator and prey to gender and power. The predator and prey roles are clearly stated by Little Red Cap’s term “wolf”. In the beginning of the poem she is the predator going after the “wolf”, she “made quite sure he spotted [her]” in order to attract him. But Little Red Cap also feels the need to display herself as naive and innocent because she knows she lacks power compared to the “wolf”. “Sweet sixteen, never been, babe, waif,” all sounds rather inexperienced and innocent. This phrase also shows her awareness of the role she needs to play in order to attract the wolf. This itself already shows how male superiority is viewed as common, but later in the poem it becomes more obvious when the “wolf” takes the role as predator. “The wolf, I knew, would lead me deep into the woods”, “my stockings ripped to shreds”, “his thrashing fur” all point to the “wolf’s” need for domination. Once Little Red Cap kills the “wolf” she breaks free from this power dynamic that was created under norms that have shaped her and many other people. At the end of the poem however is what struck me the most. “[I] saw the glistening, virgin white of my grandmother’s bones.” not only is Duffy making references to previous Little Red Riding Hood stories but she is also implying that there is a large history of men exploiting women. I think the poem that Duffy wrote is very impactful to read and that the final imagery shows a feminist view of female empowerment and drive.

Little Red Riding Hood and Little Red Cap both indulge in the power struggle women have because of the norms created over time. But the difference between the naive girl and powerful women shows that no matter the power a female holds, we will still have to live with the burden that sexism became an established norm and won’t change the way we are viewed by other people. In conclusion, I found both versions of the fairy tale and the difference in female interpretation very intriguing.