To Huff and To Puff

                                      “To Huff and To Puff”
                                        Written by M.D Martin

         The big bad wolf is infamous as the villain in Little Red Riding Hood, and for more than a century he has been placed in front of the eyes of children. Little Red Riding Hood is a fable written and generally assumed towards children. People are now looking at small tales, like Little Red Riding Hood, and believing that it is unfit for a child to read. Is the big bad wolf a symbol of bestiality, a symbol of planned homicide, a symbol of obsession, or just a big bad wolf? Stories have always been stories until in today’s world with all our new compulsion to understand the mind; we now try to find links of the taboo.  People truly believe that fairy tales are psychologically bad for your child, and they do not focus on the main focus of all fairy tales: Morality.
         Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven is a metaphor for heartbreak and loss, Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter focuses on sin, and Capote’s Muriel is a metaphor for the brink of loneliness.  Some theorists have claimed there is more to certain fairy tales then meets the eye, citing more focus about the characters than the essential moral. The big bad wolf to a child should be seen as just a big hairy villain who desires to devour Little Red Riding Hood. Some people have claimed he is a symbol; a metaphor for things children should take heed from. He could be a representation of obsession, as he obsesses over Little Red Riding Hood and he compulses to eat. If the wolf’s plan worked he would’ve ate the granddaughter, the grandma, and the food in the basket. Another symbol may be bestiality or homosexuality, striking to see Little Red Riding Hood as more of a mate or hinting an immoral gay/cross dressing (In today's social norm) with such of wearing granny’s clothes.  These are the sorts of things we normally, as a society, keep away from children, because we fear for what they may learn is right.  Do not forget, there are more characters in the plot. Could Little Red be a symbolism of innocence or immoral lust? Her innocence is played out pretty well as she trusts the big bad wolf and tells him about her plan to grandma’s house, then again this could be a tease to the wolf (A flirtation if you will). She later on in the story sees the obvious wolf in bed wearing Grandma’s clothes and Little Red Riding Hood answers his questions as if everything was in balance. This could be another form of flirtation as she could be in love with this animal (Could be said similar ideas in Beauty and the Beast) or maybe it is just simple blind innocence.  Homosexuality may also be another metaphor in the story, as it was back then (and maybe even today) a great sin to be in courtship with the same sex.  The wolf is considered a vile creature in the tale and he begins wearing grandma’s clothes, undertones may relate to the cross dressing community that are typically homosexual. This in theory leads the story into an anti-gay tale with the heroic lumberjack saving the day and killing off the immoral wolf. Some argue that the wolf is just focused on eating the girl and the clothes mean nothing, but why are homosexuals considered immoral? It is because it is a subconscious instinct to reproduce, with homosexuals they cannot produce offspring, and this leads to the wolf in a metaphoric situation. He has devoured or was about to devour all the women in storyline (Excluding the unknown mother mentioned at the start of the story) and this leads to the idea that homosexuality is wrong because if all were to be gay the role for women would be pointless, leaving man to fall into oblivion.  These are few of many metaphors that could be described in many tales, but it still leads to the question of whether these metaphors are too extreme in answering.
         Teeanna (Genre of Argument, P.41-43) is an advocate for fairy tales.  When people have theorized that children will take the acts in the book (The violence, incest, ect.) almost literally, she retorted,” The that this is a horrible thing to do or even think of doing, and therefore thinks he/she is a horrible person. If children can read about deeds such as this in a fairy tale, they can pretend to do something awful, and they will therefore feel less guilty about their own thoughts without acting on them.” She, like many others, has also said that the fables focus on people overcoming their almost impossible obstacles. Little Red Riding Hood travels through out a dark forest to feed her ill grandmother, risking attack from a deranged wolf.  These stories were written beyond even your grandmother’s age and they are substantially different era of speaking. They focus on such subtext as a homosexual wolf, a lustrous maiden, or a homophobic lumberjack. It was a simply a story about a girl who wanted to aid her sick grandma and happened to come upon a hungry big bad wolf, with a hint of morality. The brothers Grimm wrote it in form that it meant only that you should always be wary of strangers and never trust everyone, a simple moral for a simple little story. The idea of children psychologically stemming into a homosexual or a psychopath from Little Red Riding Hood is absurd in any reason; children’s psychologically nature can only be altered if they understand the subtext. If the theories were right, the children do not have the capability to see the wolf as a cross dresser or a mascot of bestiality.  Unless somebody explains to them that specifically the wolf is gay (Then most likely have to describe the meaning of gay) the child will not understand the metaphor. Children think differently and all they see is the common line, they just see a wolf, nothing more and nothing less. Some say it could trigger subliminally over time, especially in adolescence.  This idea is only based on the theory that subliminal messaging works, and have been proven on many occasions that subliminal messaging does not work with most average citizens.  The chances of this idea being true would be slim to none.  You must not look on to stories with such deep metaphors unless they were written as so, the brothers Grimm differ from Edgar Allen Poe.  Fairy tales were written for whimsy and should be remembered as such.
         I do personally believe that all stories have different meaning to different people so to solely argue on this would be pointless.  Anyone with enough passion can relate to a story, from War and Peace to The Golden Goose. I believe man loves to think and relate to what they love, it seems clear that people would relate to fairy tales in the same manners. I figured the man who thought of anti-homosexual big bad wolf was either one of two things: an anti-homosexual that liked the story or a homosexual that disliked the story.  Many people do get carried away with the idea of symbolism; I mean do you really think Winnie-The-Pooh was written to promote Taoism? I highly doubt it.  I am not saying the people who relate these stories are unintelligent and greatly wrong, I’m glad they can relate a work of fiction into their lives to enhance their future experiences. In fact, I know I am able to relate to these stories if I desire, but I do not because I think they will not change my outlook or actions at all within my life. I will not stuff children into ovens, I will not cut open a goose’s stomach, and I most likely will never approach a big bad hungry wolf to converse with.