Madness # 4
The Madness
continues with an abundance of reading and thinking. The realization sets in that as a child I may
have been sheltered with the stories my father read to me, forcing a personal
examination to see if I may have done the same to my now grown sons. With my oldest graduating with honors from
Vanderbilt University and my youngest son attending LSU, maybe I did not
shelter what I read to them too much. I
do know that in the future I will pay closer attention to the reading choices
for my grandchildren, especially when fairy tales may be involved.
Week Two
Discussion
A preface
might be in order before I actually address the assignments in the discussion
for week two. Similar to Zohar Shavit in
The Concept of Childhood and Children’s
Folktales, I felt compelled to examine as many variations of Little Red Riding Hood (LRRH) as time would allow. Unfortunately, in addition to the versions
assigned to read, ultimately fifty-eight variations were found
(Smithsonian.com), some being over 1,000 years old, with many having rather
unusual, even unexpected endings.
Actually, the only versions I was really familiar with included the children’s
Dell series LRRH version where the
woodsman appears as the hero to rescue grandmother and the granddaughter, or with
a version similar to the one written by Leanne Guenther, where even though the
wolf swallows grandmother, she is later spit out. No real violence, no sexuality, or rape
occurs.
Although a teacher of high
school and middle school English for forty-four years, I must confess that most
of the versions of (LRRH) mentioned
in this class, I have never read and have never examined these variations in a
class. I feel as though, I may well be
the lone wolf (pardon the pun), not having the exposure that many in our class
do seem to have. In the time period in
which I grew up, words such as “sex” were never spoken. I almost felt like
calling my father who is eighty-eight, to ask him why he did not share more
knowledge with me about LRRH. With our professor saying that we should try
to incorporate this class into our teaching, I realize that many of these
versions of LRRH would never be
acceptable to address in most schools.
Therefore, I search for ways to be sure that a classical fairy tale can
continue to be taught in our elementary, middle and high schools.
While
understandable that the concept of a child and childhood had to have time to
come of age, I struggle with the idea that most versions of LRRH would ever be suitable (acceptable)
reading for most children. Students can
clearly be shaped by the books they read, and although we do want classic
literature available for them to read, school guidelines, parish approval and
good judgment are required. In the very
beginnings of published folktales wealthy people mostly read tales with
somewhat childish plots with the intended purpose of using the tale for
educational purposes to separate or remove children from a corrupt adult
society, still an idea that should be a possible consideration in today’s choices
of children’s literature.
I am hopeful
that the time spent on this task comes through in my explanation. Looking at the variations of LRRH, as well as the general
introduction to LRRH in Norton’s Critical Edition, and the ‘test
case’ by Zohar Shavit, the main focus of this written work, LRRH, must be about education. All teachers and parents should remain
focused on what is in the best interest of the student or the child. Education does exist in James Thurber’s
rendition of LRRH, as the girl has
been coached to know a wolf when she sees one, and she knows when to abruptly
shoot him with an automatic weapon. This
is for certain a type of education because the girl has been taught not to be
easily fooled, and clearly has been instructed on how to properly handle a firearm. Even in Charles Perrault’s version, children,
most especially young women, are taught never to talk with strangers, even if
the stranger sends a smile their way, once again pointing out the educational
aspect (in the direction of an adult audience) warning of sexual advances, not
necessarily of appropriate nature, and (in the direction of a children’s
audience) warning of the need to remain virtuous, leaving the innocence of a
child intact, and even between the lines receiving a warning about pedophiles. Perrault altered the original LRRH in order
for a more sophisticated audience to experience a different structure, even
adding tragic endings. These ideas then
allowed Perrault the opportunity to speak to two different audiences due to the
ambiguous nature of his LRRH. He spoke
to an elite literary group that only intelligent people would notice, including
his satirical approach, which the Brothers Grimm did not choose to use. The
Grimm Brothers version instead put education as an important message to be
learned by Red Riding Hood, “As long as I live, I will never leave the path
myself to run into the wood, when my mother has forbidden me to do so.” Later, the grandmother teaches Red Riding
Hood another valuable lesson of how to drown a wolf in a boiling pot.
The Werewolf, by Angela Carter, perhaps not quite
as good at making education a primary focus as the previously mentioned
examples, still shows the transfer of education to a child when the girl’s
mother insists that she take her father’s hunting knife with the strong
reminder that she has previously been instructed on its proper use. Mention of
the girl knowing the woods well, but also knowing to use care, is further proof
that education is a continued focus in the story. The
Werewolf is absent of a light tone, making the story unsuitable for a
children’s audience, and although the moral lesson for the child may not be
clear, the knowledge (education) the girl has obtained does allow her to live.
In The Werewolf getting her voice to a
wider audience seems important to Carter.
She gives the impression that by shocking her audience she might gain readers
who may lean toward more Gothic or X-rated tales. Clearly, NOT ALL fairy tales are meant to be
read by children, making the choices of literature read in schools a difficult
task for teachers and school districts alike.
Works Cited
Brothers
Grimm. “Little Red Riding Cap.” The Classic Fairy Tales. Ed. Maria Tatar. New York:
W.W. Norton & Company (1999). 117-122.
Carter,
Angela.”The Werewolf.” The Bloody Chamber
and Other Stories. New York:
Penguin.
1993.
108-110. Print.
Guenther,
Leanne. Little Red Riding Hood. OLTK’s
Inc. 2012.
Nuwer,
Rachel. ”There Are 58 Versions of Little
Red Riding Hood.”Smithsonian.com. 15
Nov.
2013.
Perrault,
Charles. “Little Red Riding Hood.” The Classic Fairy Tales. Ed.
Maria Tatar. New York:
Norton.
1999. 11-12. Print.
Shavit,
Zohar. “The Concept of Childhood and
Children’s Folktales: Test Case-‘Little Red Hood.’
The
Classic Fairy Tales. Ed. Maria Tatan.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company (1999).
16-17.
Thurber,
James. “The Little Girl and the
Wolf.” The Classic Fairy Tales. Ed.
Maria Tatar. New
York:
W.W. Norton & Company. (1999). 16-17.
