Fairy Tale, Mr Miacca and Little Red Riding Hood

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Introduction

A fairly tale is a small story originating from the folk lore. It has the typical features of a folk narrative, with fantasy characters, such as giants, dwarves, trolls, fairies, elves and globins (Bottigheimer, 2010, p. 12). Although a fairly tale does not have a clear-cut definition, it can be distinguished from other types of folk narratives, such as the exclusive moral tales and legends (which involve societal beliefs about specific events). Fairly tales have been part of oral narratives for several centuries. However, there are also authors in the contemporary world who have used fairly tales for various reasons. The modern fairly tales are designed to fit the modern contexts.

Originally, fairly tales were meant for both adults and children. The authors of the fairly tales designed them for adults, so that the adults could get stories to tell to their children. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the authors started targeting children directly (Bottigheimer, 2010, p. 12). The traditional fairly tales, which were designed for adults, were altered as they were passed from one generation to another, so that they could be read to children. Throughout history, fairly tales have always been targeted on influencing children in various ways. Although they involve fictions, each fairly tale has a specific theme or themes meant for the children. In most cases, the fairly tales sensitize children on the importance of doing good deeds and avoiding bad deeds or behaviors (Bottigheimer, 2010, p. 13). The current paper analyzes traditional fairly tales in order to understand their influence on children. Specifically, the paper analyzes “Mr Miacca” by Joseph Jacobs and the “Little Red Riding Hood” by Charles Perrault.

Mr Miacca

“Mr Miacca” is a story of a boy called Tommy Grimes, who sometimes portrayed good behaviors and in other times, bad behaviors. His mother always advised him not to go alone to the street (Jacobs, 2009, p. 152). Her mother frequently warned him that if goes out to the street alone, a cannibalistic fiend called Mr Miacca would take him and kill him for food. Despite the warnings, Tommy went out to the street alone. Mr Miacca caught Tommy as he “got round the corner,” and put him upside down in a bag and took him home. When Mr Miacca walked out to look for herbs, Tommy tricked Mrs Miacca and managed to escape (Jacobs, 2009, p. 152). Tommy did not learn from the first encounter, and he walked out to the street alone another day. Mr Miacca grabbed him again and took him home again for food. Mr Miacca decided to cut his leg and put it in a boiling pot, but instead, missed and cut the leg of the chair. Tommy took the opportunity to escape again. Tommy never went back to the street alone until when he was a grown up (Jacobs, 2009, p. 152).

“Mr Miacca” was written in the 19th century, but it was reused as a fairly tale for children until 1960s (Tatar, 1993, p. 24). Although it has important themes that are applicable in the contemporary societies, it is hardly used in the modern world as a story for children (Bottigheimer, 2010, p. 89). The tale is meant to teach the children the importance of obedience. The text is concerned with discouraging two vices; curiosity and stubbornness. Tommy is presented as a curious boy who wants to walk out and explore the street. He is disobedient and stubborn because he goes out to the street two times even after warnings by his mother.

In short, the “Mr Miacca” attempts to mould the behavior of children through giving elaborate illustration of the consequences of disobedience and deviant conduct. As she replies a question to Tommy, Mrs Miacca makes it explicit that Mr Miacca eats boys who have bad behaviors of walking around the streets alone. When taking Tommy home, Mr Miacca said to him that “you’re all I’ve got for supper, and you’ll not taste bad boiled” (Tatar, 1993, p. 24). In addition, the author of the tale used a picture of a huge man holding an axe. The author uses the axe to emphasize that violence will be used against a child who is disobedient.

Although the main theme of the tale is to discourage disobedience, it has other influences on children. For instance, it gives ideas to the children on how handle problems. When Tommy found that he was going to be used as food, he decided to lie to Mrs Miacca in order to escape (Tatar, 1993, p. 24). Although the act of lying in order to escape is not considered morally right in most societies, the tale connects to the lives and anxieties of children and gives them idea on how to act when they find themselves in such situation. In other words, the tale gives ideas to children on how to navigate through problems in life.

Little Red Riding Hood

“Little Red Riding Hood” is a fairly tale of a little girl who was sent by her mother to take food to her sick grandmother. The girl, whose name was Little Red Riding Hood, was supposed to pass through a forest and thus, her mother instructed her to stick to a certain path. However, the girl decided to pass through a different path (Hillert, 2006, p. 5). On her way, while in the forest, she was confronted by a wolf. The wolf lured her with sweet words until she agreed to inform him where her grandmother lived. She told the wolf that her grandmother lived a quarter of an hour away from the forest. The wolf left the girl and went to the grandmother’s home and swallowed her. When the girl arrived to her grandmother’s home, the wolf disguised himself as the grandmother (Hillert, 2006, p. 7). However, Little Red Riding Hood noticed that her grandmother had gained strange looks. The wolf then approached towards the girl and swallowed her too. An air pilot came to the rescue; he took an axe and used it to cut the wolf and disposed him into a lake (Zipes, 2006, p. 197).

The “Little Red Riding Hood” was used as a story for children in Italy as early as 20th century. It has been altered in various ways and consequently, there are different versions of the tale with significant differences. For instance, Charles Perrault’s version of the tale is very different from Brothers Grimms’ version. While Grimms’ version indicates that the girl and her grandmother were eventually rescued, Perrault’s version does not mention it. Despite the alteration, “Little Red Riding Hood” remained relevant until the early 19th century.

“Little Red Riding Hood” has two major themes. First, it discourages disobedience. Little Red Riding Hood disobeyed her mother buy failing to follow the path that she was instructed to pass. As a result, she faced the negative consequence; she was confronted by a wolf that later swallowed her and her grandmother. The tale has pictures that portray a mother giving advice to her daughter. Secondly, the story teaches children not to allow themselves to be deceived by criminals who use sweet words and lure people into giving them information or doing what they want. The wolf presented himself as good and used sweet words. For instance, the wolf said “God help you, Red Hood” (Hillert, 2006, p. 7). The positive approach led the girl to give in. She replied “God bless you, wolf” (Hillert, 2006, p. 7). The tale has a picture in which the wolf looks humble as he tries to solicit information from the girl.

When the wolf inquired about where she was going, she quickly replied that she was going to her grandmother’s home. Without knowing that the wolf had bad intentions, she even described where her grandmother lived. In the same way, criminals may not show their bad intentions when inquiring information that they need in order perpetrate harm. After getting the information they need from an innocent person, the person also becomes a target of harm by the criminals. Therefore, the text in the tale teaches children to avoid giving in as a result of luring words of criminals.

Conclusion

In conclusion, fairly tales have been used for many centuries as stories for children. They are designed to give specific messages to the children. In particular, fairly tales are meant to foster discipline or good behaviors in children and to discourage bad behaviors. “Mr Miacca” and “Little Red Riding Hood” are good examples of fairly tales that have been used for a long time to teach children. The two tales discourage the vice of disobedience. In addition, the “Little Red Riding Hood” teaches children not to allow themselves to be lured by criminals.

ReferenceBottigheimer, R. B. (2010). Fairy Tales: A New History. SUNY Press, New York

Jacobs, J. (2009). English Fairy Tales. Abela Publishing Ltd, London

Hillert, M. (2006). Little Red Riding Hood. Norwood House Press, Ontorio

Tatar, M. (1993). ‘”Teaching Them a Lesson”: The Pedagogy of Fear in Fairy Tales’ in

Off with their heads!: fairy tales and the culture of childhood. Princeton University Press

Zipes, J. (2006). ‘Walt Disney’s civilizing mission: from revolution to restoration’ in

Fairy tales and the art of subversion: the classical genre for children and the process of civilization. Routledge, New York