Dakiri Burkhardt October 15, 2013 ENGL 414A LSW Folk and Fairy Tales Charles Perraults version

n of Little Red Riding Hood lacked a good many of my expectations for a folk or fairy tale. For starters, this tale lacks a problem for the main character to face, battle, or overcome. Little Red Riding Hood simply walked from her house to her grandmothers house and then gets eaten. She does not have to be clever in any way; she does not have to rely on her own wit to survive. I feel as though this version simply states a tragic situation that occurred. I was also disappointed in the use of the forest. In other fairy tales, the forest symbolizes the unknown, fear, uncertainty, or hopelessness. It serves as a place of transformation for the main character(s). In Perraults tale, the forest was lazily the place where Little Red Riding Hood meets the wolf then gets eaten minutes later. The only transformation is from her being alive to her being dinner. There is no real excitement in that. While, not all folk or fairy tales require good to triumph over evil, they at least allow the main character to attempt. Here, the wolf simply ate the old lady and then the little girl in mere seconds. There was a shock factor, but there was no real excitement. The author could have allowed Little Red Riding Hood to be clever and attempt to escape, but fail immediately or after a few attempts. That would have at least given the girl some dynamics to her character. I do not think it is

necessary for this story to have a happy ending because even Grimms version ends with the two women being saved, but extremely gruesomely. I simply think that there should at least be a few more dynamics to the storys plot, characters, and setting. That is where the story truly fell short for me.