James Thurber’s short story “The Little Girl and the Wolf” is a modernized version of “Little Red Cap,” with some interesting twists when compared to the Grimms tale. As an American cartoonist and writer, Thurber was known for his wittiness during his life, as well as having grown up in an environment full of practical jokes and humor. Thurber’s version of this story turns Little Red Riding Hood into a keenly intelligent protagonist who takes “an automatic out of her basket” and shoots “the wolf dead.” The short story ends with a plainly stated moral which says that “it is not so easy to fool little girls nowadays as it used to be.” This moral connects Thurber’s version back to Perrault’s version; Perrault’s moral warns young, pretty girls to beware of men, whereas Thurber’s moral wryly states that young women are not as easy to trick anymore.
Importantly, the title of the book in which this story was published in is Fables of Our Time and Famous Poems, in 1940. The humor seen in this story suggests that the primary intended audience is not children, but adults who would be familiar with the more traditional Grimms tale. Adults would be able to appreciate the changes in the story, whereas children would most likely be reading this story for the first time and not know the differences. Thurber transforms the naïve, innocent, and disobedient girl in the Grimms tale into a savvy, street-smart girl who recognizes the wolf in her grandmother’s clothing “twenty-five feet from the bed.” I believe this retelling represents the hardiness and quickness that people, men and women, had to have during the time in which it was written. Coming after the end of the Depression, it is easy to think that people who had just survived an incredibly difficult time would better appreciate a story in which the heroine is a true heroine, and in modern style with her gun.
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I agree that the addition of a gun to the story could reflect the attitudes of Americans following the Depression who would be in need of a victory. Also, I think that the gun could be related to the timing of the story during WWII. While America had not yet officially entered the war, violence was ongoing in Europe and probably on the minds of many Americans. Thus, the idea of being able to conquer one's enemies as decisively as Little Red Riding Hood does in Thurber's version of the tale would perhaps appeal to many contemporary readers.
ReplyDeleteIn reading the more modernized versions of "Little Red Cap," such as this one, I can't help but wonder if perhaps the authors want to give the new generation of parents a more empowering story to read to their children. In that way perhaps stories such as these were meant for both children and adults. They still teach of the potential danger which exists out in the world but the difference between this version and older versions is that this version sends the message that children (and/or women) can take action to protect themselves, rather than simply waiting to be saved.
ReplyDeleteI think this is more intended for adults than children. One difference between this gun-wielding Red and that of Dahl is the year of publication. 1940 was a rather conservative time in regards to child-rearing. These would be our 50's comb-over and wife-putting-my-slippers-on parents some day, which more or less reflects a more wholesome picture than hotshot Red here. Jumping to 1982, Dahl's audience has been exposed to greater amounts of media, television, etc. This is essentially our generation, children of the 80s and 90s, who probably has been watching gun related humor on tv for a few years on Cartoon Network.
ReplyDeleteAlso, there isn't much meat to Thurber's story, which assumes the point is to get to the punchline. A child's story, like Dahl's rhyming version, would likely serve to entertain in this broader way as well.