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Edwin Serrano
Professor Jackie
ENG 101
23 April 2016
The Old Red Riding Hood to the New Red Riding Hood:
They wear red they both go against a wolf, but one gets eaten and the other gets a wolf
skin coat. Little Red Riding Hood by Charles Perrault is very different from Little Red Riding
Hood and the Wolf by Roald Dahl because of the type of language that is used, also through the
different versions it is visible how the story has dramatically, and teaching a child good morals
has turned into something more entertaining. Little Red Riding Hood by Charles Perrault is
obvious that it was written way back when a simple example is the use of the word grandmother.
Little Red Riding Hood was written back in the day because of the language that is used.
The word grandmother is not used as much today as it was then in 1697. The word faring most
people will need to pull out their smart phone to know what that means (it means to be ill, sick).
Later on in the story it shows how people used to present themselves when someone asked, who
are you, but in the story by Charles Perrault it shows that Little Red Riding Hood had to present
herself and what business she had there, Its your granddaughter, Little Red Riding Hood, and
Im bringing you some cake and a little pot of butter sent by my mother. Now in Roald Dahls
version uses todays type of vocabulary.
In the Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf by Roald Dahl we see that the language used
it uses the word Grandma instead of Grandmother. It doesnt show that the grandma is sick or ill
at all in this story it just gets straight to the point that the wolf is hungry then eats the grandma. In

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this version there is no oh hey Mr. Wolf Im going to my Grandmas house type of deal since no
need of explanation since the story is well known for where her destination is at. It shows the
wolf say Im therefore going to wait here till Little Red Riding Hood Comes homes from
walking in the wood . Unlike the old version of Little Red Riding Hood theres no need to give
out all these details to the wolf. For the old version of Little Red Riding Hood we see that Little
Red Riding Hood is leaving to run an errand.
In the version by Roald Dahl it shows that Little Red Riding Hood is just going home. So
apparently she lives with her Grandma and in the older version she lives with her mother. In the
version by Charles Perrault there is a wolf that stops her on the way to grandmothers house and
ask her what her business was. In the one by Roald Dahl we see that the wolf knows about Miss
Riding Hood but waits for her after he has eaten the grandma. In the one by Charles Perrault the
Wolf gets the information of where the grandmother lives and then beats her to the destination
then was able to get into the grandmothers house then eats both grandmother and Little Red
Riding Hood. Where in the one by Roald Dahl it shows that the Wolf is already at grandmas and
then what ends up happening is that he eats her and then dresses up as her but Little Red Riding
Hood goes off script by saying But grandma, what a lovely great big furry coat you have on.
Then that leads the Wolf to go off script, which he then say, Thats wrong! Cried the Wolf. Have
you forgot to tell me what BIG TEETH Ive got? But the ending here does not follow the one
by Perrault because Little Red uses a pistol and kills the Wolf for his Fur so she can have a
trophy you can say of killing the wolf. The characteristics and meanings of the stories are very
different.
Lets start off with the characters from Perraults story, so in his story there is: the mother,
Little Red Riding Hood, the Old Neighbor Wolf, wood cutters, and the Grandmother. The Mother

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so call adores the girl but it doesnt show that later on in the story because she doesn't tell her not
to talk to strangers and to be in a hurry so that no one will harm her on the way there. Although it
shows that she cares for the Grandmother by making her cakes and sending her things so she can
have positive thoughts and not feel so down. Little Red Riding Hood is innocent and nice to
people she has manners she does what is asked of her. She is also easily distracted and likes to
waste time. The Old Neighbor Wolf is smart, cunning, patient, and hungry. Then there are the
woodcutters the reason why the Wolf did not eat Little Red Riding Hood was because the
woodcutters probably would have killed the Wolf. The Grandmother is sick and too weak to
defend herself and she gets eaten. We can see that this was written back in the days of Charles
Perrault because the woman then had no street smart or book smart. Now in Roald Dahls there is
a change in what the characters play.
So there is Little Red Riding Hood, Grandma, and the Wolf. Little Red Riding Hood is
smart, good at analyzing, and can make her own fate. The Grandma is just helpless and cant
defend herself so she gets eaten just like the other story. The wolf is super hungry and just gets
down to business so he eats Grandma. Thinks hes smart from disguising himself but cant fool
Little Red. We see that from the times of Roald Dahl and today women have power to choose
their fate. They are fearless, strong, smart, and independent. The stories though have totally
different purposes and different meanings for different audiences.
In the one by Charles Perrault the whole purpose of the story is to teach a lesson as it
shows at the end of the story, Moral, From this story one learns that children, especially young
girls, pretty, well-bred, and genteel, are wrong to listen to just anyone, And its not at all strange,
If a wolf ends up eating them. I say a wolf, but not all wolves are exactly the same. Some are
perfectly charming, Not loud, brutal, or angry, But tame, pleasant, and gentle, Following young

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ladies Right into their homes, into their chambers, But watch out if you havent learned that tame
wolves Are most dangerous of all. (Charles Perrault Pg. 11) It shows and tells women to beware
of men all types of men but especially the ones that are nice because it is a disguise. In the other
story by Roald Dahl the story is to just entertain. It shows because of how Dahl switches the
ending and how Little Red is a strong and independent woman. When she kills the wolf she gets
his fur to rub it in to others that she killed a wolf and has no fear. These stories are based on the
same characters but are different in a way.
From Charles Perrault to Roald Dahls version of Little Red Riding Hood we see that
they have different types of vocabulary. Also that they have way different characteristics that the
Little Reds are way different and cannot fit into different times except for the times they were
made. Then to finish off these stories have different meanings to beware of men and the other
one to not trust them at all.

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Works Cited
Dahl, Roald. Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. The Classic Fairy Tales: A Norton Critical
Edition, translated by Maria Tatar, Norton.
Perrault, Charles. Little Red Riding Hood. The Classic Fairy Tales: A Norton Critical Edition,
translated by Maria Tatar, Norton.