Goldflower and the Bear

Chiang Mi's Goldflower and the bear, published in 1979, is a revision of the traditional structure of the red riding hood story, incorporating a more modern viewpoint. In this version, the age old gender roles of the protective brother and demure sister are reversed. In order to survive, Goldflower must utilize her wit, and in the end, physical violence. The audience is unmistakably that of modern children, had the story been published in the Grimm's time the role of the daughter would have seemed inappropriate. The fairy tale is clearly attempting to impart a sense of self-reliance, independence, and strength to the child. Removed are the connotations of the predator as a male presence, instead the bear comes to represent a general threat, unattached to any symbol. While Goldflower makes the mistake of letting in the bear in the first place, instead of being punished the narrative has her take responsibility and deal with the issue herself. Further, all adult authorities are absent from the story and place much more of an emphasis on Goldflower's ability to trust herself and remain calm and in control.

pardon the spelling below...

Raul

I think Raul Dahl's use of poetry does indeed appeal to a more audult adience who have already been exposed to the fairy tale in years past. While poetry might be harder for shildren to understand, per se, I think that the low of poetry has a certain rythm to it that most certainly is aimed at children. Thus the use of poetry for Little Red Riding Hood has a twofold purpose for Raul Dahl: both to appeal to kids hearing the poetry read before bedtime while at the same time serving a comedic purpose for the adults reading them. For example, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a movie exhibited the way about it where ti was targeted at drastically different audiences, working on some level for both of them.

More specifically to his version, as pointed out by Emily, Little Red Riding Hood doesn't hold the same innocence as what was once portrayed in the Grimm's version. However, I would interpret her putting on the wolf's fur less as a symbol of maturity and more of an alegorical symbol for her passage through adolecence. In all, Raul Daul looked to put his spin of the tale in an effort to bring certain alegories to the forefront while supressing others, all of which is presented in comical poetry.

Roald Dahl is famous for works such as James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Matilda, but he also wrote his own version of many common fairytales, including "Little Red Riding Hood." Though he writes his version in rhyming poetic form, the mood is much darker than the Grimm's version. Dahl's audience is clearly not the same as the Grimms, aiming for a more adult crowd who can enjoy his quirky humor. This is shown by the use of a pistol by Little Red Riding Hood to destroy the wolf herself, an addition certainly not meant to entertain a bunch of children.  Also, Little Red wears the wolf's fur as a coat, making her a more mature girl, and therefore, aimed to entertain an older audience. Finally, the structure of the narrative, a poem, seeks to engage an older crowd, for poetry is often harder to understand. 

Dahl is a twentieth century author, and therefore, his target audience is more modern and older than those of previous versions of the fairytale. He uses irony and humor to twist the story around to appeal to this new generation, but why? By this time in history, classic fairytales like "Little Red Riding Hood" were common knowledge among children and adults. In order to make the story fresh and new to an adult crowd that grew up hearing these stories, Dahl adds new elements to create a contemporary and unconventional version.  In so doing, he gives new depth to these old stories and makes them interesting all over again.  

A little New Yorker humor

James Thurber was a favorite among fans of the New Yorker readers for his humor. From short stories like "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" to his own fairy tale "The 13 Clocks," Thurber was a master at creating the absurd to poke fun at the mundane world of daily life in the earlier part of the twentieth century. In particular, the curt tale of "The Little Girl and the Wolf" is a picture perfect example of Thurber's work- written like a short blurb found in a magazine, the story immediately grabs the reader's attention to the time period of the story's setting. The references to the Metro-Goldwyn lion and Calvin Coolidge date the short fairy tale to the 1930s, and indeed, "The Little Girl and the Wolf" was published in the New Yorker on Jan. 21, 1939. But more importantly, the moral at the end, "It is not so easy to fool little girls nowadays as it used to be" calls to mind the changing social structure of the United States during that time period. During the 1930s, many more women belonged to the work force than ever before. As a result, women no longer wanted to be known as the little red riding hoods that always had to be protected by the kind huntsman, and they were quite adamant in asserting their new-found independence from Victorian mores. On the other hand, men were not so comfortable in sharing their position as the bread-winners with women. Many men saw the modern woman as a threat to their idea of masculinity, for how were they supposed to prove their merit when women no longer needed them to take care of the family budget and security? Thurber's "The Little Girl and the Wolf" pokes fun at this fear by illustrating how "the little girl" no longer needs the huntsman to rescue her from the big, bad wolf. The male no longer can serve as the role of hero/rescuer, and the woman controls all the shots (...please pardon the bad pun.) Thurber probably wrote this version of Little Red Riding Hood partly as a warning to men to be on the lookout for predatory women, for the economic and social conditions of the time made it easier for them to upsurp all their power, and partly as a jest at men's fears of independent women. I mean, who doesn't like a little intrigue in their relationships? The old Little Red Riding Hood would have certainly been a bore with the half of a brain she had...

Assignment: 27 January 2009

Please respond to the following by midnight tonight. On Wednesday, read over the other posts in your sub-group and comment on at least two.

You have read Shavit's essay comparing the Perrault and Grimm versions of “Little Red Riding Hood.” Using Shavit's method, consider one of the other versions you read for this week (Dahl, Calvino, Thurber, Chiang Mi). With a little research (you may use Wikipedia, since this is not a research paper), outline who you think the audience is and what the fairy tale’s retelling says about the culture and time in which it was written.