10 Messages of Red Riding Hood

One of the overlooked messages of the story is the relationship of the characters with their problems. While we don't know why grandmother lives in the woods, her illness creates unnecessary problems for her and her relatives. Red Riding Hood doesn't listen to her mother's advice, which leads her into a life-threatening situation. The wolf eats both of his victims, but instead of moving to a safe place, he falls asleep.

All of them are at least partially responsible for their troubles.

The role of the mother in Red Riding Hood is overlooked in most cases. But we can still ask a legitimate question: Why didn't she take the basket with goods to the grandmother's house? Or, maybe go with her daughter? We are pretty well informed that the forest is a dangerous place, and none of the popular versions explains what keeps Red Riding Hood's mother at home while granny lies sick and alone in the woods.

In the most famous version of Red Riding Hood, written by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, the message is clear: Respect the authority!

Mother warns the girl: "Stay on the path!" The girl should only listen to her, and everything would be all right. It's not our intention to find how much truth is in this authoritative approach. We could definitely stay without one of the best fairy tales ever if her daughter wouldn't fall into the temptation presented by the wolf.

Charles Perrault gave the girl the red hood. Red is the color of life and the color of sin. His version wasn't the first with erotic subtones, but he emphasized it most of all. His Red Riding Hood gets into bed with a wolf, which is just a pictorial representation of an old popular French phrase: Elle avait vu le loup - literary translated as 'she had seen a wolf' but actually meaning 'she lost her virginity'.

Perrault never wrote for kids, after all. His fairy tales reflected the relationships in society and the situation with older men, using their power and money to pray after young naive women. And when his wolf eats the granny and the girl, nobody comes to rescue them. The story concludes just with a moral in the form of a warning.

The wolf charms the girl with his sweet words and apparent concern for the granny's health. He suggests picking flowers and making an old lady happier with a colorful bouquet. As we know his intentions were different - he just wanted to get to the grandmother's house before Red Riding Hood, so he could eat his first course before the dessert was served.

Depending on the version, the wolf tells the girl about a shorter way to the granny's home. This changes the understanding of Red Riding Hood's character. If she delays her visit for flower picking, she's irresponsible. But if she delays her visit because she was deceived, she is just a victim.

And a bit naive, of course.

The vast majority of authors and interpreters focus on the title character only but the wolf can offer a few valuable lessons too. He is, for instance, a perfect example of the usage of delayed gratification. While he can obviously overpower and eat the girl right after their first meeting, he decides to delay the satisfaction of his urge and have two meals instead of just one.

Such ability separates an animal from a human. The wolf in this story is not just a talking animal. He possesses other human characteristics as well.

This lesson can be seen from the view of the victim and the predator. The wolf can pass as a nice gentleman at his first encounter with the girl. He can pass as the visitor when he enters the granny's home. And, for a few minutes, he can play the role of the granny, when Red Riding Hood enters the cottage. Yet, in essence, he is always a beast. Everything he does, including pretending, has the same goal - to eat his victims.

Red Riding Hood is fooled by his nice approach at first and by his likeness to her granny at the second encounter. When she realizes his true identity, it's already too late. Too late for her, but not for the audience.

The wolf is a clear winner of the story. He wants to eat the old lady and the young girl. His plan is executed perfectly. Well, maybe his portions are a bit too much for him. Instead of helping his digestion with a long walk, he rather falls asleep. Instead of finding a safe place to sleep, he snores at the crime scene.

He is a smart predator but not so smart winner. He is an easy prey to the woodman or the hunter (depending on the version). His gluttony is punished. Deadly sin with a death penalty.

Only hardcore fans of fairy tales know about the second version of Little Red Cap, which was also included in the first edition of Children and Household Tales in 1812. In this tale, the girl later meets another wolf who (what else) tries to trick her too. But she already knows how important is to stay on the path and get to the granny's house before the wolf. When he arrives, Red Cap and her grandmother defeat the beast with their wit.

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