Little Red Riding Hood Analysis Essay

I am going to describe the theme of Little Red Riding Hood, and describe the elements I found to contribute to the theme, how those elements affect the narrative theme. The elements that I am going to use in this paper are the narrative point of view, plot and symbolism. The point of view of is described in our text as is third-person objective, which the narrator takes a detached approach to the characters and action increasing the dramatic effect of the story (Clugston, R. W. 2010). â€Å"Plot tells what happens to the characters in a story. A plot is built around a series of events that take place within a definite period. No rules exist for the order in which the events are presented (Summers, Hollis 2012)†. The plot of the story is considered to be little red riding hood’s death as she is eaten by the wolf. The point of view, symbolism and plot help the reader to find the theme the author is portraying in the story. To find the theme of a story you need to know how to find identify the point of view of the story. As you read the story you can see that the narrator is not telling the story in the first-person point of view, the first-person point of view is when one of the characters in the story, telling their own thoughts or feelings. Third-person point of view is when the narrator is not a character in the story. There are a couple different types of third-person point of view, omniscient, and objective. Omniscient point of view is when the narrator is knows or can relate to the characters, there is a second type of omniscient point of view is limited omniscient point of view which is when the narrator relates only one characters feelings or thoughts. The author of â€Å"Little Red Riding Hood† uses third-person omniscient point of view. In the first paragraph you can see that the narrator is not a character in the story, â€Å"Once upon a time there lived in a certain village a little country girl, the prettiest creature who was ever seen. Her mother was excessively fond of her; and her grandmother doted on her still more. This good woman had a little red riding hood made for her. It suited the girl so extremely well that everybody called her Little Red Riding Hood† (Clungston, 2010). Plot according to our text is defined as â€Å"A dynamic element in fiction, a sequence of interrelated, conflicting actions and events that typically build to a climax and bring about a resolution. Clungston, R. W. 2010 Chapter 5)†. â€Å"A unified plot has a beginning, a middle, and an end. That is, an author leads us from somewhere (a character with a problem), through somewhere (the character facing the problem), to somewhere (the character overcoming or being overcome by the problem). In literary terms, we speak of a story having an exposition, a rising action, a climax, and a denouement, or outcome. The exposition gives the background and situation of the story. The rising action builds upon the given material. It creates suspense, or a reader’s desire to find out what happens next. The climax is the highest point of interest. The denouement ends the story (Summers, Hollis 2012). † In â€Å"Little Red Riding Hood† she starts the story off with describing little red riding hood as an extremely attractive woman who is asked by her mother to take some cake and a pot of butter to her sick grandmother. She describes red riding hoods trip to her grandmother’s house, where she met a wolf, whom was very hungry, â€Å"As she was going through the wood, she met with a wolf, who had a very great mind to eat her up, but he dared not, because of some woodcutters working nearby in the forest (Clungston, 2010)†. The wolf decided to convince red to go one direction to her grandmother’s house, â€Å"â€Å"Well,† said the wolf, â€Å"and I’ll go and see her too. I’ll go this way and go you that, and we shall see who will be there first† (Clungston, 2010). The plot changes to one of deceit when the wolf arrives at grandma’s house before red riding hood, He pretends to be red and the grandmother has him in. The wolf then kills the grandmother and puts on her bed clothes and waits for red riding hood to arrive. He tricks red riding hood into believing he is her grandmother. â€Å"The wolf cried out to her, softening his voice as much as he could, â€Å"Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up† (Clungston, 2010). After red riding hood came in the wolf gets her to take her clothes off and crawl in bed with him. He sets the trap for her and she gets eaten up by the wolf, â€Å"All the better to eat you up with. † And, saying these words, this wicked wolf fell upon Little Red Riding Hood, and ate her all up. (Clungston, 2010). According to chapter 7 in our text symbolism â€Å"a symbol is something that has a literal identity but also stands for something else—something that is widely understood and has been developed over a long period of time or by common agreement. This second identity (or referent) is always abstract in nature† (Clungston, R. W. 2010). One of the parts in the story that I find has symbolism is â€Å"As she was going through the wood, she met with a wolf, who had a very great mind to eat her up, but he dared not, because of some woodcutters working nearby in the forest. (Clungston, R. W. 2010). The wolf symbolizes a person trying to take red riding hood’s body, His wanting to eat her up. When the wolf talked to little red riding hood and the author writes â€Å"The poor child, who did not know that it was dangerous to stay and talk to a wolf,† it symbolizes red riding hoods innocence as in she has never had sex with anyone before. The wolf says to red riding hood to â€Å"come get into bed with me† symbolizes the temptations we all face in life. The theme that is hidden in â€Å"Little Red Riding Hood† is the death of red riding hoods innocence, and virginity. The story was written in a time when that having sex before marriage was unheard of and made a woman frowned upon by others. By using symbolism, plot and point of view it helps the reader identify the point that the author is writing about. I found that the meaning of the fairy tale is one of morals, and how for some people once you lose your virginity then you are tainted or ruined for the person you love and get married to.