First Blog Entry

I chose to discuss the Italian/Austrian "Little Red Hat" for a few different reasons; the first of which is I found this story interesting because the wolf character in the other versions has been replaced by an ogre (where I instantly picture Shrek, making the story extra ridiculous), and secondly, I was amused by the language used in the last line: "...and BAM, he swallowed Little Red Hat with one gulp."  I find it interesting this stranger, the ogre, invites himself to grandmother's house, but instead of traveling with Little Red Hat across the stones which seems the easier of the two routes, he instead ventures through the thorns.  Similar to most other versions of the fairytale, Little Red Hat happens upon a flowering meadow where she got "what her heart desired," temporarily forgetting her soup delivery in lieu of getting what SHE wanted, and for this she gets punished.  I find the placing of the blood, teeth, and jaws in the kitchen cabinet and replacing the door latch with grandma's intestines rather odd, and the closest thing I could think of for symbolism would be the teeth and jaw representing a warning not to talk to questionable characters, in this case an ogre.  I also think it's interesting that the girl never truly questions her 'grandmother's' orders, because when the ogre confesses to Little Red Hat what it is she is actually ingesting and telling her to keep quiet, all she responds with is "what did you say?" and continues to do as told.  The way the ogre is described in the end as kind of this old, wise, hard-working, listening man is also interesting because while this is a tale of caution to young girls, this version suggests men are perhaps better than women, and therefore, the ogre himself is not punished, like in other stories, by a passing huntsMAN.

The physical conflict is easy to spot between the ogre and the girl and even the ogre and the grandmother, and we also know there is an internal conflict focused around the girl in "Little Red Hat," but there is no sort-of third person omniscient narrator telling the reader of the girl's decision between flower gathering and delivering soup, wondering why her 'grandmother' wants her to hop in bed naked with her, or questioning the strange features of her grandmother.  You could argue that the external conflict between Little Red Hat and the ogre starts when they meet, but I think it's not until the girl actually shows up at Grandma's and is forced to open the gate by pulling on an intestine that things actually begin.  This also is where the internal conflict begins between girl and ogre, and is proven when she begins questioning the ogre by stating "Grandmother, this thing is so soft!"  Despite somehow believing human teeth were rice, jawbones were slabs of meat, and blood was wine, she still continues to obey with little apparent resistance.  Even at the end when the ogre exclaims that his big mouth "comes from eating children," the story doesn't include any kind of physical resistance or disagreement from being gulped down by the ogre.  So it goes.

Blog assignment #1.

      I have chosen "Little Red Hat" because the tied intestines on the door caught  my attention. I think the intestines replacing the latched string symbolizes something even though the story doesn't go into much detail with it. Perhaps it represents something sexual, dirty minded. Little Red goes on to mentioning how what she is pulling is soft, and she gives out the sense like she likes it.
"Little Red Hat tried to open the door, but when she noticed that she was pulling on something soft, she called out, "Grandmother, this thing is so soft!"." It can also be portrayed as if Little Red is innocent because she is a child and she does not know what she is doing. But then again no one is that stupid. It is hard to believe that she eats her grandmothers teeth, jaw, and drinks her blood with out knowing,cannibalism, something must have tasted odd. She must have known , either that or she must be a blond.
    Another take in the story that i can conclude from is that everything had a meaning. Maybe the ogre was somewhat the devil(the punisher). The devil is tricky. The soft intestines on the door was how Red Hat was going to feel in the ogres stomach, soft. The rice teeth that she munched was how he was going to much on her, and the meat jaw she ate was maybe how he was going to chew her up with his jaw. The blood she drank was the blood that soon would be Little Reds bloods dripping from his jaw. So he tricked her into eating her grandma and now she must be eaten.(Just a thought.)


  
   There indeed is an internal conflict with Little Red. Throughout the visit in her grandmothers house she senses that something is wrong and she asks so many questions. She knows there is something wrong with the food she swallows, but immediately discourages it. She states that the rice teeth is hard,"Grandmother, these things are very hard!" and that the grandmothers jaw meat is so red,"Grandmother, this is very red!". Red questions her fake grandma because she feels like there is something not right but at the same time she isn't sure. The ogre helps her loose her internal conflict by calming her down. "Eat and keep quiet!" is the phrase he repeats over and over again. Red Hat definitely knows something is wrong when she gets into bed with the ogre. "Grandmother, you are so hairy!"
"That comes with age," said the ogre. "Grandmother, you have such long legs!" "That comes from walking." "Grandmother, you have such long hands!" "That comes from working." "Grandmother, you have such long ears!" "That comes from listening."
By the time she asks her last question,"Grandmother, you have such a big mouth!", it is too late to turn back because he answers"That comes from eating children!". This is when she looses her internal battle.

Blog

I chose Charles Perrault's  LRRH as my first read.
In it, which this wolf is interpreted as a man who takes advantage of a innocent young girl, tells a story in which the wolf deceives LLRH as well as the grandmother to get what he wants. Sex.
After the story had ended unhappily, I found it odd that the innocent girl didn't have the brains to think for herself. Ex. "Put the cake and the little pot of butter upon the stool, and come get into bed with me." Afterwards she undresses and lays with the wolf.  At this time and era we live in, people can easily see the signs of being manipulated by sex. But in it itself, and very rarely, people so innocent such as LRRH can overlook the simple straight forward 'i want sex' that men uses on women.  For one example - love (It can blind even the most smartest person) depicted in some Hollywood movies. I think that it's understandable to be manipulated once in a while (How devious the plan is or how complex and how far men would go just for sex) but as asking for a simple straight forward of 'where do you live?' and 'take this long path/Don't go that way.' is telling readers that no matter what a man would say or how stupid it might be, there is just one person innocent enough to fall for that scheme. (Trying to make this a open debate for more points in participation!)

Some internal conflicts I saw in LLRH in Perrault's version, which i found obvious, is that when LRRH asked the wolf countless questions...
"All the better to hug you with, my dear."
"Grandmother, what big legs you have!"
"All the better to run with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big ears you have!"
"All the better to hear with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big eyes you have!"
"All the better to see with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big teeth you have got!"
"All the better to eat you up with."
Having multiple doubts from LLRH, the wolf sickeningly lies to LLRH.
To me this shows that LRRH is asking herself the questions in her mind but wasn't sure enough to came to a right conclusion. This ties with the Innocents of LLRH in the first paragraph because these casual questions are the same lies men would tell young girls for sex regardless of how stupid the answers may be. I think it's silly how easily women can be manipulated depicted in LRRH and how other countries still use women as sex slave.

An external conflict that i saw, or maybe a minor one, is that when the wolf had an internal conflict 'As she was going through the wood, she met with a wolf, who had a very great mind to eat her up, but he dared not, because of some woodcutters working nearby in the forest. He asked her where she was going.'
He was keen enough to see the problem he would go through if he had 'eaten' (Or rape) the girl. The conflict was the woodcutter vs the wolf knowing that the wolf would never stand a chance against a wood cutter (A more gentleman that will assist the helpless)

1st Blog Assignment!

I chose The True Story of Little Golden-Hood by Charles Marelles, first because the title caught my attention, and second because I have never heard of this version before and it was very interesting to me.

One of the things I found interesting was that the hood was gold and fire colored, made of a ray of sunshine. It was given to the little girl from her grandmother for good luck, so you already know it is special. Another thing is the wolf introduces himself as "Friend Wolf", he is trying to make himself seem innocent and friendly to the little girl so he won't scare her off. It says he came frisking up to her like a "good dog". Which we discussed in class, even if something or someone looks innocent, you shouldn't believe it. Unlike the other stories, when he arrives at the grandmothers house she isn't there, so he is relieved and sets up on the bed. This version did include the wolf telling her to take off her clothes before getting in the bed with him, which she did, but she only left her hood on. I also found interesting that when she laid in the bed, she states how much her grandmother looks like Friend Wolf yet she stills stays in bed with him. And my favorite part of this version is the ending, when he goes to swallow the little girl he catches her hood and it burns it burns his tongue! "The little hood, you see, was one of those magic caps that they used to have in former times, in the stories, for making oneself invisible or invulnerable." The grandmother then walks in and throws him down the well. No one is eaten or killed in this version except the wolf. I think it has the same moral as the other versions, don't talk to strangers. And i think it might be saying that the little girl was lucky enough to get a warning and that others may not be so lucky.

I think there is an internal conflict in this version with the wolf. "He had seen the child start alone, and the villain was waiting to devour her; when at the same moment he perceived some woodcutters who might observe him, and he changed his mind. Instead of falling upon Blanchette he came frisking up to her like a good dog." He really wants to just eat her then, but knows its not the best decision so he comes up with a different plan to get to the grandmothers house before the girl and get ready to eat her. "Ah! yes! I know now," said the wolf. "Well, that's just where I'm going; I shall get there before you, no doubt, with your little bits of legs, and I'll tell her you're coming to see her; then she'll wait for you." When he arrives at the house he realizes no one is homes he quickly comes up with a plan. "Good!" said the wolf to himself, "I know what I'll do." He shuts the door, pulls on the grandmother's nightcap down to his eyes, then he lies down all his length in the bed and draws the curtains."

Cast

I chose to read the "cast of Amontillado". The short story written by Edgar Allen Poe, is a dark story about revenge and ultimately death. The story deals with a man (Montressor) wanting to achieve revenge on his enemy (Fortunato). In the begining of the story Montressor stuggles with the intense need to get back at Fortunato for all of his wrong doings. "I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong." Whatever Fortunato did to make Montressor so upset, he felt that death was the best outcome. Another example of internal conflict that Montressor had was at the end when he was about to put in the last stone to close up the wall and he realized he was near the end. "I had finished a portion of the last and the eleventh; there remained but a single stone to be fitted and plastered in. I struggled with its weight; I placed it partially in its destined position. But now there came from out the niche a low laugh that erected the hairs upon my head. It was succeeded by a sad voice, which I had difficulty in recognizing as that of the noble Fortunato." Even thouugh he had planned for so long to demise of Fortunato I don't think any person is fully ready to ackowledge their actions when it is about to be completed. Montrssor displays external conflict in this story most note worthy when he suceeds in getting Fortunato into the catacomb, and locks him up. Fortunato seems confussed but still in good spirirts from the alocohol, so he doesn't react as strongly initially as someone else might had they been sober. 

I read the essay "Poe's The Cask of Amontillado" by Roger Platizky. This essay talks about Poe's reasoning for perhaps writing this short story. The time in which Poe wrote this story it was a very real possibility for people to be buried alive. Medical expertise wasn't advacned enough to know all the time if a patient was absolutely dead. There where even tools manufactured to attach to corpses in the off chance of them being alive so they could hopefully be saved. "Poe's story coincides with a historical period in which attempts were made both to protect individuals from premature burial and society from judicial acts of public torture that were formerly sanctioned as rites of purification. According to Pieter Spierenburg in The Spectacle of Suffering, the number of public executions diminished considerably in the Western world beginning in the mid-eighteenth century as spectators, growing more empathetic to criminals - as a result of "mutual identification" - increasingly experienced the suffering of "fellow human beings" with painful anxiety (183). In this essay is presents a reason why maybe Montressor wanted to seek revenge. Because this form of punishment was used only for major crimes, although not said in the story the author suggests that he must have done something quite terrible. This essay opened my mind up to why Poe used the kind of murder tool he did in the story and how in the time of it being written it fit with the historical norm. 

Mikael Blog 1

I chose to read Roger Platizky's analysis of Poe's "Cask of Amontillado".  In it, Platizky stipulates that CoA was an effective horror because "the threat of being buried alive is both a psychological fear and a historical reality".  Simply put, the very idea of being chained and entombed while conscious is enough give most people (including your humble narrator) chills.  To continue to drive the evidence of this subjects popularity home, Platizky references the popularity in devices during the time that could warn the living of either an unneeded burial or an imminent zombie invasion.  The fear of living entombment was alive and well during the time, and it is suggested by Platizky that Poe was perhaps inspired to write this short story because of an article written by a Joel T. Headley in 1844.  Headley's article relates a real crime which was very similar to Montressor's is CoA that was unearthed in the small Italian town of Don Giovanni.

It's obvious to see, especially after reading the analysis of the story, why it was able to remain fresh after so many years.  The tale of murder and revenge is timeless, and it's implications are limitless.  People murder for many reasons, and most of them are trite and momentary, even if the application is not.  It is the method of the application that is hook.  CoA provides a riveting tale that hits the psyche of most individuals.  It is both the fear of this kind of slow death and the methodical way that Montressor carries it out that makes this story both timeless and terrifying, in it's own way.

Michael's Blog Assignment

look at that! Im the first one to post...now i feel special
For this assignment, i read the Italian version- Little Red Hat. i chose this version simply because Italians are awesome, and i found it amusing that they seemingly dislike red hoods.

This version of the story takes a very different approach to the story. It forgoes the usual resolution in favor of a darker and unforgiving warning to young women.
Rather than featuring a wolf, the antagonist is an ogre. An ogre, rather than serve as a symbolic representation of a disreputable suitor, serves as a more literal depiction of men who would corrupt a woman's purity. Like the ogre in the story, the wrong man will not only entice a woman to follow him, but he will lead her to destroy and undermine the very security and purity the once coveted- symbolized by her grandmother/her body parts.

While in other stories have interpreted the ill-fated quest to visit the grandmother as a test, this story features a shortened account of her actual travels, and lacks any implication of doubt or inner conflict about her decisions. What I did find interesting, though, was the simple yet powerful message sent by the roads that LRH and the ogre took. Of the two paths- a stone path and a thorny path, LRH took the stone path. This bears a resemblance to the biblical illustration of the " narrow road" leading to life and the "broad road" leading to destruction. In LRH's case, she chose the easy path of allowing association with an ogre (a corrupt man) instead of taking the thorns and making an effort to keep her good standing.

Another interesting element of the story was LRH's interactions while eating the grandmother. On conversation is as follows:

A little while later Little Red Hat said, "Grandmother, I'm still hungry."
"Go back to the cupboard," said the ogre. "You will find two pieces of chopped meat there."
Little Red Hat went to the cupboard and took out the jaws. "Grandmother, this is very red!"
"Eat and keep quiet. They are your grandmother's jaws!"
"What did you say?"
"Eat and keep quiet!"

 LRH notices that something is wrong. When she asks if something is wrong, the ogre actually confirms that it is her grandmother(purity) that she is eating(destroying) her. I'd like to believe that this is a warning that  evil men will hardly try to hide their malevolence. LRH's question could be seen as either legitimate disbelief at what she has heard, or an almost sarcastic dismissal of the revelation. This may or may not be some form of internal doubt/regret she is feeling. The fact that she proceeds to eat seals her fate- whether intentionally or not, she has caused her own destruction.

A lesson to be drawn may be that initial failure to discern a danger will lead to death. Even the realization of one's error will not bring salvation. It should also be noted that LRH followed the ogres instruction: "Eat and keep quiet!". Any inner turmoil was not voiced. even when LRH began noticing her "grandmother's" external flaws, she did not run away, almost as if she did not want to believe anything was wrong.