Little Red Riding Hood Comparison

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Naomi Longshore (option #11) Children’s Literature Mackie 9 October 2014 Little Red’s Attitude Adjustment Little Red Riding Hood is a timeless tale that tells the story of a naiive, little girl in a red hood who encounters a cunning wolf who desires to eat her. Many of the versions, imply a sexual nature behind the wolf’s attack, but both Thurber and Dahl manipulate the classic fairytale to add humor and provide a message quite opposite to the original author. These two authors rely on the assumption that the readers are familiar with the original story. With this, each masterfully brings the reader on a journey of twists and turns that cause one to think differently upon the tale he heard as a child. Without the burden of belaboring the reader…show more content…
It was told with the wolf as the focal character. It focused on the wolf’s journey rather than Little Red’s. Two thirds of the story details the wolf’s hunger and the lengths he went to for a meal. It is only the last third that Little Red makes her appearance. In the original version, Little Red reveals the location of her grandmother’s house but in Dahl’s version he is not ignorant or merely lucky, but very calculated as if he has been watching them for a while. He knew exactly where Granny’s house was, the fact Little Red would be there shortly, and the questions she would ask him. He’s aware of being in the tale. The choice to make the wolf the main character was clever because it allowed the readers to connect with him and even sympathize for him. Readers were able to play into the assumptions and givens from the classic tale because they were not introduced or given any inkling into what this version of Little Red was like. His surprise at Little Red straying from the classic script was equally as shocking to the audience. Dahl paid special attention to the wolf’s hunger. It gave the character a dimension of being a real wolf instead of a magical fairytale wolf. He had no secret motives of sexually preying on Little Red. He was merely following his stomach as wild animals…show more content…
It allows the piece to appeal to young children and the adults who enjoyed it as children. The young children enjoy the sing song rhythm while the adults are taken back to their childhoods by the classic lines. He makes fun of the routine of the story. It allows readers to rediscover this tale and not be bored by another cliché Little Red Riding Hood story. He uses diction such as Grandmama and Wolfie to further allow a sense of play within the story. Dahl also incorporates himself as a character into Little Red’s storybook world. It gives the impression that the audience is receiving a personalized retelling of the story rather than one that is

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