The Witch Must Die: The Hidden Meaning Of A Fairy Tale

Little Red Cap vs The Little Red Apple Fairytales are believed to illustrate characters and events to teach an audience valuable morals or life lessons. However, Sheldon Cashdan, author of “The Witch Must Die: The Hidden Meaning of Fairy Tales”, explains this is a common misconception amongst readers, and in fact, the stories are to help us deal with internal conflicts and struggles we face throughout our lives (8). However there is much more to be taught when identifying a fairytales underlying meaning. For example, the classic Brothers Grimm tale, “Little Red Cap”, portrays the potential consequences lead by our inability to discern the nature of evil. Through its characters and events, “Little Red Cap” truthfully depicts the wolf’s evil
When reading from a more analytical perspective, the roles and actions of the characters prove to show a deeper meaning with the events and consequences from succumbing to evil desires. Little Red Cap represents the “good” of the story, someone who is supposed to obey and complete blameless tasks. She is portrayed as a naive, spoiled girl, who has simple instructions to follow from her mom. Her grandmother “loved her most of all and…could never give the child enough”, (13). Specifically, she was given a cap of red velvet, and due to its beauty, wore it all the time. This is important because it depicts her desire for material items that only hold value in appearance. This part represents the natural desires we all have and later becomes her weakness because it leads to her sinful action of disobedience, an example the authors depicted of good versus evil. She is also proven to be naive during her first encounter with the wolf. She responds to his greeting saying, “thank you kindly wolf” after he is introduced to the audience as a wicked beast (14). She does not realize his evil at first, so she does not fear telling him where her grandmother lives. Portraying the main character as young, innocent girl, represents the good in the story and in ourselves. Her inability to see his evil intentions to trick her is the start of her
However it was her choice to let her cravings falter her obedience, which lead to nasty costs. The Grimm Brother’s fairy tales are said, by Chasdan, to subscribe to biblical principles by portraying the desires of evil and consequences of succumbing to those evils, or sins (83). Little Red Cap depicts the desires of evil and how our inability to discern these evils result in costly measures. The consequences of Little Red Caps submission to her desires by being distracted with pretty objects causes the near death experience of her and her grandmother getting swallowed whole. This same image of good vs evil is illustrated in the book of Genesis in the Bible. God creates Adam and Eve and instruct them to not eat the forbidden fruit from the garden where they live. However a serpent enters the garden and speaks to Eve. The evil character he is, he takes pleasure in causing disobedience, or sin. This sin was to trick Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. The evil is disguised in the snake, just as the evil is disguised in the wolf. Both take the desires of others and causes defiance against the rules. Little Red Cap had a longing for pretty things, thus the wolf points out the beautiful things around her to distract her from her responsibility. The serpent also knows Eve’s desires for curiosity and exploration, so he used them to tempt her to sin against God. Ronald