Analysis Of Little Red Cap By The Brothers Grimm

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Throughout time, mankind has forged stories and legends to explain the unknown. As years went along the stories and tall tales were passed down to each generation. Each recount of the inherited stories are always told differently, how the story was told usually depended on the person and their particular region of habitance. Thus leading to hundreds of different versions of a single story told throughout the world, written and told by different people. Not only are these stories told as pure entertainment, they serve as wise life lessons and set examples for children when they were eventually introduced to society. These stories are so prominent in human history that even to this day the same stories that were told to children centuries ago …show more content…

“Little Red Cap” quickly became a household tale among children and adults, due to the imperative lessons that it directs to children and their parents'. Behind the initial story lies a message which, ”Cautions young girls to mind their mothers and not stray from the path to wander in the forbidden woods” (Rholetter). The forest represents any unfamiliar place that children can easily become lost within, while the path to grandmother’s house can represent a place the child is accustomed to. As soon as Little Red Cap begins her journey, she is confronted by a wolf. When they first meet, the wolf acts as a polite gentleman would towards any young lady which earns Little Red Cap’s trust instantly, "Little Red Cap, just where does your grandmother live? said the Wolf. Little Red Cap eagerly replied, Her house is a good quarter hour from here in the woods, under the three large oak trees. There's a hedge of hazel bushes there. You must know the place”(Grimm). This portrays children being subjected to the danger of strangers acting as friends to others for their own personal gains. The Brothers Grimm version of “ …show more content…

This fairy tale was most likely told to children to scare them into obedience. It registered to children essentially as a warning to listen to what your parents say and not to talk to strangers. Just as Little Red Cap subjects herself and her grandmother to danger and is saved by a passing huntsman, she told herself, "As long as I live, I will never leave the path and run off into the woods by myself if mother tells me not to", promising to herself to not be as reckless in the future (Grimm). Little Red Cap also uses her past experiences to learn from her mistakes. The second time she makes a dangerous journey to her grandmother's house, she encounters a second wolf with similar motives at the first. This time, however, Little Red Cap makes a beeline straight to her grandmother’s and makes sure she to not stray from the path once. When Little Red Cap reaches her grandmother’s, she exclaims, "If we hadn't been on a public road, he would have eaten me up"(Grimm). These lessons connect with children, cautioning that the world outside their individual spaces is a dangerous place and should not be taken lightly. Even to this day, this story is told to relate to children and stresses a point to not disobey your parents and stray far from

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