Roald Dahl’s version of Little Red Riding Hood titled, Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, to me is a much more modernized and interesting read for someone our age. It goes to show how easy it is to spice up reading just by adding a few different outcomes to an old tale. However, there are many differences in this version than the more “original” versions of LRRH. For example, the tale most people are used to, by Brothers Grimm, starts with a mother and a girl that wears a little red cap and who tells her to bring cakes and wine to her sickly grandmother. Little Red Riding Hood, in this version, Little Red Cap has a run in with the Wolf on her way to her grandmother’s house.
“Little Red Cap, have you seen the beautiful flowers all about? Why don’t you look around for a while? I don’t think you’ve even noticed how sweetly the birds are singing. You’re walking along as if you were on the way to school, and yet it’s so heavenly out here in the woods.” (pg. 14)
That whole scene doesn’t even happen in Dahl’s version. I believe, Brothers Grimm had that scene in their version because it shows how naïve little kids can be, and their story was more about teaching them how to follow their parent’s instructions. Another difference that I found in Dahl’s version that does not happen in most other versions’ is the fact that LRRH is actually carrying a gun that she uses to kill the wolf so that he cannot eat her.
“’I’m going to eat you anyway.’
The small girl smiles. One eyelid flickers.
She whips a pistol from her knickers.
She aims it at the creature’s head
And bang bang bang, she shoots him dead.” (pg. 22)
That happens to be my favorite part of the whole tale. Shows the bravery and courage that this little girl has. This part is also in James Thurber’s version, The Little Girl and the Wolf. After she shoots the wolf with her “automatic”, Thurber goes on to the moral of the story, which happens to be, “It’s not so easy to fool little girls nowadays as it used to be.” I agree. Although I think that it is a very important lesson for kids to be taught to listen to their parents, as in what Brothers Grimm are going for with their version, I think it is also very important for children to learn bravery and courage. Both of these tales, even though they are both based on the same little girl, go to show how easily a few different scenes can change an entire outcome.
Skylar Nerone 