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Thursday, January 04, 2007

Just in the neighborhood

wolf.jpg

Change the setting of Red Riding Hood to the future.
  • Is the forest a trek across an alien landscape? A trip through a high rise apartment building or space station?
  • Is the wolf is an android? An alien? A self aware computer? A human who wants something from a non-human?
  • Is Red Riding Hood a little girl? Someone new to the area? Someone leaving home for the first time? An android who has just been turned on? An alien?

More

I'm currently reading How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster

(He has a nice chatty style. Not at all professorial! ;-)

Part of his point is that by mining old stories to tell new stories, writings give a sense of familiarity and depth and timelessness to what they're writing. To take a bit from what he's saying, think about what the various pieces of Red Riding Hood represent in a broader picture.

What is Red Riding Hood?
  • Innocence? Naivete? Vulnerability?
When she meets the wolf/grandmother she is suspicious. She notices something's off but doesn't trust her interpretation. Why? Does she want what the illusion represents so much that she's willing to disregard her feelings? Is she lacking in self-confidence?

What is the wolf?
  • Certainly something deadly to her, but it's disguised as not only something benign but something she has an emotional connection to, something she already trusts. She wants to approach.
What other things (in a future or other setting) would represent those that would have the same resonance?

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