The story of "Little Red Riding Hood" was first written by Charles Perrault in 1729. He established the story from an oral folktale that originated in France. The origination of the oral folk story has been theorized to come from the witch persecutions that were being performed in France in the 1600s (Perrault web site?). Since the origination of this tale to the present time, there have been many different versions and re-writes. I intend to discuss and explore many of these versions to compare the symbolisms and morals of then and now.
             One form of symbolism that has not changed at all, during this stories lengthy trip is Little Red Riding Hood representing good and innocents. The version originating from London in 1823 describes her as "so good-natured, so sweet of temper, and so ready to oblige; and, besides, never missed her prayers twice or thrice a day (Marshall)". Little Red Riding Hoods representation of good and innocents is one of the key facts that have kept this story around through the years.
             The wolf representing evil is another key fact that has remained constant over the passing of time. There have been numerous changes to the way the wolf is presented but the over all symbolism has not altered. Some of the stories display the wolf as a sly intelligent predator methodically planning out the demise of Little Red Riding Hood. Others portray the wolf as a cowardly crook that is just hoping to eat the little girl for dinner.
             This folktale having a good vs. evil plot, started out early trying to teach young children; to be good, obey their parents, and don't talk to strangers or you'll be eaten by a big bad wolf. The original story did a good job of getting this point across. Nearly 130 years later the story was changed a bit. Instead of Little Red Riding Hood getting eaten by the wolf, she's just about to get eaten when a huntsman kills the wolf, saving Little Red Ri...