I think Dahl's retelling of this popular fairy tale indicates that times have changed tremendously. First, instead of relying on a huntsman, Little Red Riding Hood kills the wolf herself suggesting a sense of women's empowerment. Second, instead of using a knife, the weapon used to kill the wolf is a "pistol" which shows the advance in weaponry.
Also, I found it interesting that although it may not seem like he changes that much of the general storyline, Dahl twists the focus to be on the wolf. He adds "and the Wolf" to the title, begins the poem talking about the wolf, and follow his actions instead of Little Red Riding Hood's. This, however, is not unlike other Dahl works because he is known for expanding detail on the villain.
I disagree with a couple of things. First, the target audience. I also picked up on the "sing-song" aspect but I think the nature of the weapon itself suggests that Dahl had a more adult target. Dahl published this in the 1980s so women's empowerment wouldn't have been really a big issue.
ReplyDeleteGood point about the weapon. I thought of children when reading it based on the fact that to me, LRRH in most versions is targeted for children. Although it's not like there aren't guns in any other children stories, I can understand where the weapon is violent and maybe should be targeted towards adults.
ReplyDeleteAlso, yes, this was published in 1982, but regardless of when it came out, the fact that LRRH goes from not knowing a wolf from her grandma and having to be saved by a man, to recognizing the wolf and killing him herself shows the difference in the times of these two versions.
1st off women's empowerment through out all of history is a really big issue. Just because there may not have a court case does not mean that there is not a social system that needs to be challenged. Giving Little Red the gun showed that she is a force to be recon with and she will not let anyone take advantage of her. Even this wolf.
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