Deception is just a cruel thing isn't it? You get to make someone believe into something to get what you want. A commonly used trickery in stories and movies but it never gets old. Ever since in Snow White, the idea of deception is just the favorite act of villain characters. And up until now, it's still the best way to make one story exciting.
So I'm going to tell one story of deception: Little Red Riding Hood written by the Brother's Grimm and has a version with Charles Perrault. Actually there were a lot of versions of this story. One with Red Riding Hood and her Grandmother got saved by a Woodsman; another with Red Riding Hood killing the Wolf and saving her Grandmother by dissecting the Wolf's belly; the other, a grosser version, is the Wolf dissects the Grandmother and invites Red Riding Hood to eat her flesh, but ended up eating her; and the other, well I might say the weirdest one, is Red Riding Hood stripteasing the Wolf while he lies in bed and escaping while he was distracted. (That one shouldn't have been included.) While a lot of versions are done, the original story goes like this: Red Riding Hood encountered the Wolf; the Wolf ate her Grandmother and when the little girl came, he ate her too. THE END.
Boring? Yeah I know. So I decided to break one rule in researching and I searched for the meaning why "Red Riding Hood" is "red".
Amazingly, I found an article that directs me exactly what I'm looking for, entitled "A Deeper Look Into Little Red Riding Hood" from the site Werewolves.com written under the username of Moonlight.
As the title implies, the article talked about different symbolisms as well as hidden morals from some of the versions of Red Riding Hood. One is of course, with the color red. According to the article, before it was not really supposed to be red and that red is placed on to place some hidden morals. From one version that I said about the girl stripteasing, red is made to be its color as it represents sins and lust, and some versions are mixed with sexuality. An example is one with Red Riding Hood stripteasing the Wolf to distract him; and another one is teasing the Wolf offering her clothing to buy her freedom; but ended up eating her anyway. There are bonuses that the article offered and I am not the one to refuse such valuable information. Another moral in it is from a version that Red Riding Hood strayed from the path given to her and that it symbolizes maturity, she is free from childhood and is gaining her own independence.
There's also a version about the Huntsman/Woodsman where he rescues them by slicing the Wolf's belly and pulling the Grandmother out who is still alive. Still in the article, it implies a lesson that on whatever life throws at us, there will always be a way to pull ourselves out from those troubles and we would still be complete and intact.
Lastly, is about the rocks where on that version Red Riding Hood cuts open the Wolf's belly and stuffed rocks inside and sewn it back, making his belly heavy and killing him with a broken heart. The rocks symbolizes the heaviness of the Red's experience and that she will never be fooled again.
Too much information on one article, but no, I'm not complaining. Really helpful it is though breaking a rule. I'm delighted to hear those symbolisms and morals and it gave the story more value than before. A little ticked off at the sexuality parts as it shows pedophilia, I mean, red Riding Hood is a little girl right? Stripteasing is a too sensual of a way to use as a method in a kid's story. Such a bad example. Whoever made that version is probably a pedophile. Either way I would probably never look at Red Riding Hood the same way again.
And as if I hadn't gotten enough of sexuality, it grossed me even more as I found another article that is on the subject. An essay entitled "Psychoanalytic Approach to Little Red Riding Hood" from the site StudyMode.com written under the username of Putiputi. In the essay, it says that it was Sigmund Freud that started the psychoanalysis of a theory in human behaviors that is motivated by sexuality. And he gave the story of Red Riding Hood as an example, which is apparently abundant on the sexuality thing. It stated that the story's purpose is to actually warn from the "smooth-tongued" and "dangerous beasts" that steals ladies from innocence. From Perrault's version, it said that before the Wolf devoured her, the Wolf made her took off her clothes and after the girl commented on the Wolf's "big" body parts, he "jumped on her".
Another thing the essay wanted to point out is the repression of sexual desires which is seen in the Wolf as he waits for the perfect timing. And he didn't eat the male woodcutters around the area and waited to prey instead on a young girl, which is a little weird. The version said that he made her naked first before going to bed before completely eating her. The Wolf was representing the psychic energy of an id; the first psychic zone of the mental process that consist lacking of logic, and functions only for "instinctual gratification."
The essay said that, "In stories such as this, the sexual undertones are clearly evident, and thus substantiate the intricacies behind the approach. Perhaps it is a bit untraditional. However, this investigation remains both thought provoking and brilliantly compelling."
Truly untraditional it is, for some elements like this to be included in a folk tale. For me, subjects like this gets a little uncomfortable. Maybe it's because we're talking about children stories here; the ones where you supposed to tell them before going to bed and that they will learn something from it. But from this different point of view, I guess there's more things that children can learn from bedtime stories.
Fairy Tale stories' origins have always been interesting. But it's always, the philosophy, psychology and mythology that keeps everything running. And I understand why my blogposts always revolves around them. The human mind is such a wide subject, especially when you focus on how it works. There's a ton of possibilities the human mind can offer and who knows? Maybe in the next few years of Fairy Tale evolutions it would not only be deception this time.
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