A Comparison between the Company of wolves and Little Red Riding Hood
Introduction
Written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Little Red Riding Hood, highlights the story of a little girl and a cunning wolf. The wolf cunningly misleads the little girl and manages to eat her together with her grandmother. However, the huntsman saves the little girl and her grandmother after killing the wolf.
The Company of wolves by Angela Carter, on the other hand, is a story about a little girl and a cunning wolf that in contrast to Grimm’s story ends up with the little girl sharing the bed with the wolf. In contrast to Grimm’s story that the wolf eats the little girl and her grandmother, the cunning wolf in Angela’s story is presented as a tender wolf. The story concludes by presenting the little girl sharing granny’s bed with the wolf.
Thesis: Although the two stories are similar in that their main characters are both little girls and cunning wolves, Angela Carter’s story has a moral lesson that Grimm’s story lacks. Therefore, Angela Carter’s story is better than Grimm’s story.
Similarities
The two stories focus their attentions on little girls and cunning wolves. Grimm’s story, on one hand, focuses its attention on a little girl that is loved by everybody and a wolf that turns out to be cunning. The little girl is sent by her mother to go and take care of her ailing grandmother. She is advised what to do once she gets to her grandmother’s house. However, on her way to grandmother’s place, the little girl meets with a wolf. The wolf through cunning means manages to get the full details of the little girl’s grandmother.
Angela Carter’s story, on the other hand, equally focuses its attention on a little girl and a cunning wolf. Like in the Grimm’s story, the little girl is on a mission of taking care of her ailing grandmother. Although slightly different, the little girl carries a basket that has been packet by her mother (Carter 3).
Both stories describe the little girls in almost similar manner. Grimm’s story describes the little girl as a young girl that is loved by everybody. It further describes the little girl as one loved greatly by her grandmother that never makes enough of her. The grandmother goes to the extent of sending the little girl a little riding hood of red velvet (Grimm 1). In a similar manner, Angela Carter’s story describes the little girl as a pretty girl that is loved greatly by her mother and grandmother. Like in the Grimm’s story, the little girl receives a red shawl from her grandmother.
Differences
Although the two stories focus their attentions on little girls and cunning wolves, Angela Carter’s story focuses much of its attention on a strong-minded little girl that does not fear the wolf (Carter 3). The cunning wolf is figuratively presented as the hindrances to changes in gender roles. However, the little girl in Angela’s story is able to overcome the challenges. Grimm’s story, on the other hand, presents the little girl as weak-minded because she is not able to make independent decision. She relies on her mother’s advice to visit the ailing grandmother (Grimm and Grimm 1). She is also distracted by wolf’s advice while on her way to visit her grandmother. In the process, she gets confused thereby does not accomplish her mission.
Contrary to the little girl in the Grimm’s story that is sent by her mother to visit the ailing grandmother, the little girl in Angela’s story is the one that insists that she should visit her ailing grandmother. Furthermore, unlike her counterpart in Grimm’s story who does not understand anything about wolf, the little girl in Angela’s story understands that the wolf cannot harm her (Carter 3). Nevertheless, she carries a carving knife to protect herself from wild beasts.
The two stories end differently. On one hand, Grimm’s story ends with the wolf eating the girl and her ailing grandmother, but the huntsman saves them. On the other hand, Angela’s story ends with the little girl figuratively marrying the wolf thereby she is seen sleeping between the paws of a tender wolf (Carter 6).
Moral lesson
In terms of moral lessons, Grimm’s story does not have any moral lesson because it ends with the wolf eating the little girl and her grandmother. Although the huntsman saves the two, the story does not teach us anything apart from telling us the way the story ended. On the contrary, Angela Carter’s story ends with the little girl figuratively engaging in sex with the wolf. Besides doing this, the story portrays the little girl as a strong-minded girl that does not fear the wolf and that engages in masculine roles. In relation to this fact, Angela Carter’s story teaches us a moral lesson thereby it is far much better than Grimm’s story that does not teach us any moral lesson.
Conclusion
Overall, the two stories have significant similarities and differences. However, given that Angela Carter’s story has a moral lesson that lacks in Grimm’s story then Angela Carter’s story is far much better than Grimm’s story.
Work Cited
Carter, Angela. The company of wolves. Ecotone, 9.1, 2013. Print.
Grimm, Jacob, and Grimm Wilhelm. Little red riding hood. The fairytale and plot structure.