Analysis of Little Red Riding Hood :: Little Red Riding Hood

Analysis of Little Red Riding Hood The psychologist Sigmund Freud created many theories on how people are and why they do the things they do. His psychoanalytic theories are used today to for a better understanding of and to analyze literature. Freuds three key z is of mental process are the id, the ego and the superego. The id is one of the most important of the three when talking about Little Red Riding Hood by Charles Perrault. The author tries to show that organism impulsive and basically giving in to your id is not the best way to live ones life. In the beginning of Little Red Riding Hood, the bitty girl is happily skipping through the forest. she met a wolf, who wanted to eat her (Stories, 1066) and proceeds to have a friendly conversation with him. This is her world-class mistake. Being young and unenlightened about the ways of the world, she thinks it is perfectly normal to talk to a big, scary wolf. The poor child did not know how dangerous it is to chatter away to w olves (Stories, pg. 1066). Since the miniscule girl is young and impressionable, she jumps on her impulses to talk to any stranger she comes across. She does not think of what could come of her informing the wolf of her every move. She is not concerned with what power happen due to her irrational choice of speaking with a similarly irrational wolf. The wolf is also guilty of giving in to his amoral desires. When he first sees the little girl, he wanted to eat her but did not dare to because there were woodcutters working nearby. (Stories, pg. 1066) He refrained from giving into his impulses only because he was afraid of being hurt by the people nearby. However, the wolf did not stay hungry for long. Giving into his animalistic desires, he beat the girl to her grandmothers dramatics and proceeded to eat her. He could not ignore his desires anymore. The wolf thinks with his stomach and not his mind. The id is, in short, the source of all our pugnacitys and desires. (HCAL, pg. 130) The wolf shows the fundamental characteristics of the id. He relies on his aggression and desires to obtain what he wants. At the end of the story, the irrationality of the main characters comes to an all time high.