Fairytales – Cyrill Somera

We all know the cute classic tale of Little Red Riding Hood. The original story, however, is far from cute. Both versions of the classic tale do include some type of hidden lesson. It’s not just about a big bad scary wolf looking for a meal and some little girl who just so happens to cross paths with this monster. As I read the not so Disney versions of the story, I recognized each story had an important lesson. There were definitely a couple lessons that stuck out to me the most.

So, the stories, for the most part, all start out the same. Little’s Red Riding Hood’s mother sends her on her way to her grandmother’s to bring her some food because her grandmother is sick in bed. Little Red has to walk down a long path by herself and in every story she runs into the big scary Wolf. The Wolf finds a way to trick the little innocent girl and learns where her grandmother lives. He beats Little Red to her grandmother’s house and eats her grandmother then disguises as the grandmother to trick Little Red. When Little Red eventually gets there she notices a change in the appearance of her grandmother. Sadly, the Wolf eats Little Red as well.

The lessons I noticed in these stories were that not everyone you meet you can trust, people can take advantage of you, and to always be cautious of your surroundings. Little Red was filled with innocence. She didn’t see bad in anyone, not even in the Wolf. So when she had run into him, she didn’t think twice about telling him where she was going and what she was doing. This definitely is a fatal flaw, because in the end, her innocence got her killed. As we get older, we learn that not everyone can be trusted, which is why it is so horrible that she was a little girl alone in the woods who ran into evil. The Wolf definitely took advantage of this little girl. He knew that he could manipulate her to benefit him. She had no idea that she was being tricked. The final lesson that stuck out to me was that we should always be very cautious of our surroundings. I think the stories really emphasized the face that Little Red Riding Hood was a girl. This made her character even more vulnerable and prone to getting herself into trouble. In real life, I think as a woman, I spend time being more aware of what is happening around me. This is an extra step I like to take to ensure I am safe. I also never go anywhere alone. I think this is very well portrayed in this story. If someone, like Little Red’s mother, had gone with her to her grandmother’s, she probably wouldn’t have talked to the Wolf and as a result she and her grandmother wouldn’t have gotten eaten.