DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF A TEXT
THE LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
This
paper will study the creation of gender rolesin the fairy tale of seventeenth
century. The research will undertake Little
Red Riding Hoodby Brother Grimm as the primary text while applying van
Dijk’s triangular model of society-cognition-discourseon it. It will use
DOMINANCE as the semantic macrostructure, simultaneously, focusing on lexical
word choices, verb phrases, euphemism/dysphemism, what is said and what is not,
excuses and so forth as the microstructure of the discourse.
Little Red Riding Hood
is the story of a young girl who lives in a small town with her mother, and is
very “happy to help” her grandmother who is sick and lives in a cottage in the
wood. On her way to her grandma, the young girl is tempted by a wolf to see and
enjoy the beauty of Nature. Meanwhile, the wolf manages to gallop her
grandmother and the young girl too as soon as she arrives to her grandmother’s
cottage after collecting flowers. However, are “rescued”, by none other than a
“male”.This discourse is an apt example to show how the institution of
patriarchy is enjoying its “dominance” over all the other creatures in the
society, and how this idea has gained the status of a hegemonic view that women
are weak and vulnerable and men are strong and courageous.
Dominance
is defined by van Dijk as the exercise of social power by elites, institutions
or groups, that result in social inequality, including political, cultural,
class, ethnic, racial and gender inequality. For that matter, properties of
text, talk, verbal interactions or communicative events play a role in these
modes of reproduction.
It
is implicitly projected that to help, care and serve are the prime tasks which
the women should do willingly and happily, asthe mother has “baked a cake” and
has “brought a bottle of wine” for the grandmother to get well. These verb phrases
refer to the hegemonic beliefs that prevail in the society even now.The
discourse tells “Of course, the young girl was happy to help”. The word choices:
“of course” and “happy to help” reinforces the identity of women that is
created by the male-dominated society. “Of course” also implies the fact, that
the young girls will follow the traditional path with obedience in order to be
“acceptable”. Here,the ideology of compliance and domestic chores as women’s
domain is being perpetuated.
The
young girl is to pass by the forest where the grandmother’s cottage is placed,
is in itself an apprehensive fact for the mother, this is why, she gives the
instructions “Please be careful. Stick to the path.”The instructions given by
the mother contain the ideology that women are weak and unsafe when they go out
alone. The mother tries to act as the voice of sanity for the daughter because
she is aware of the dangers of the outside world. She emphasizes by using the
word ‘please’in her instruction, it also shows the seriousness of the issue which
the mother never explains and keeps the consequences hidden for her.
One
can argue that had the instructor beenher father, he would not have had to say
‘please’ to his daughter, because in a patriarchal society the father has always
the upper hand over all the other family members, eventually, he never requests
but commands while his commands are regarded as something written in stone. The
ideology behind this fact is that the father has the agency, he has been
certified by the society to show power by dominating others. Whereas the women
lack agency, her say is not a command or the final verdict but is just a
request which can be ignored easily.
From
a discourse analytical and socio-political point of view it is tempting to see
the relationship between discourse structure and power structure. The directive
speech such as the [above] commands or orders may be used to enact power, and
hence also to exercise and reproduce dominance.[Dijk: 250]
While
looking at the text, one observes that women’s roles are an issue for a few
reasons: Red Riding Hood obeys her mother, passes from the woods alone. She
stops for the wolf, a male authority, trusts him, does as he says, but as a
result is eaten.…In the Brothers Grimm version of Red Riding Hood stresses
conformism, obedience to the mother, and submission to male authority. [Alwina,
Alex]It can be argued that it is the societal cognitionthat is evident in her
behaviour which compels her to be submissive. The girl does not want to be a
rebel to question the dominance of male or even female. She is unlike the young
girl in Bravewho tries to defy all
the social and traditional barriers and acts as a non-conformist yet the
winner.
“I
will be VERY careful”, promises Red Riding Hood to her mother. The young girl
is found ‘silent’ at the point of her personal likes or interests. Other than
helping the grandmother, the discourse does not reveal any other trait that
would show her individuality, rather has shown or presented to us as the
‘acceptable’ prototype for young females. The young girl acts like a
conformist, obedient and an “appropriate” girl; she does not argue or question
her mother about the instructions that she is being given. Instead, she simply
agrees to it. The idea of ‘silent obedience’ and ‘no question’ reinforce the
fact that how discourse succeeds to create a certain ideology in the society
that is descended from the elite class or power-groups. And eventually, becomes
part of the personal cognition where there is less room for imagination and
discovery for the young minds.
The young girl, in the story, is
not given any‘voice’;she is doing as directed. Also, she is least interested in
her surroundings unless the wolf comes and tells her “Look….Listen….See what
wonderful things you are missing when you rush around all the time…”The word choices
and the rhetorical style used by the wolf are tempting and that of eulogizing
or euphemizing one: “Look how ‘beautiful’ Nature can be. What ‘wonderful’
things you are missing….” The use of adjectives by the wolf is an apt way of
tempting the young girl who probably was never allowed to go into the deep
woods to collect flowers before, feels free this time to do so without
hesitation or fear.
The
discourse does not attempt to show her as an intelligent young girl who makes
use of her wit, on the contrary,explicitly shows how less fortunate are the
girls in the matter of intelligence. Even when the wolf wears her grandmother’s
clothes and hides himself in the blanket, she is able to see the “big, ears,
eyes, hands, mouth” and so forth, but is unable to make out what is it. The use
of rhetorical question by the Red Hood heightens the idea of her innocence even
more. Another idea becomes apparent here, that a woman is recognized by her
outward beauty, if there is anything out of proportion about her appearance; it
is noticed and questioned openly.
The Wolf also relaxes her by
saying, “There’s ‘plenty’ of time”, the word choice of ‘plenty’ makes her
forget about everything else, and also adds to her confidence. Red Hood goes
“deeper and deeper” into the woods in search of “prettier and prettier” ones. One
can argue that the word choice “deeper” stands for the greater trouble that the
young girl has been caught into. She was amidst the “dark” wood where there is
no guarantee of her safety.
At that time, she realizes that she
is “far away from the path, and a little bit lost.” This sentence seems to be
the crux of the discourse: making Red Hood the symbol and embodimentof the good
girl gone wrong. Here the ideology is being perpetuated that when the young
girls astray from the “right” path, they are likely to be caught into a serious
trouble. The idea of female vulnerability has been inculcated and generalized
through the discourse, using their weakness as an excuse; the society want them
to learn that it is a place where every other creature is superior and dominant
over the female. So they need to adopt a “careful” way of life instead of
following their own desires and mad pursuits. She also epitomizes the ‘good’
girl gone ‘wrong’ whose sufferings are different in different versions of
stories.
In the discourse the Wolf has been
projected as adominant figure; the traditional status of the wolf is that of an
“outcast”, “the other” and the” dangerous one” who should be avoided or who should
not be contacted with. Actually, the Society itself leads him to act like that.
[Karabulut,Gülay]
He is the representative of the danger of the outside world. After engaging her in the flowers,
the wolf takes the quicker path to reach the cottage. This is likely because he
is not liable to conform to the societal norms or “Western-style thought”
rather is free to create his own means and patterns of behaviour [Gülay]. The verb
phrases: “he ran straight”, “knocked”, “swallowed”, “galloped”, “flopped back”,
“snore loudly” show the bold and free actions that the wolf performs one after
the other. He is fearless and at peace because his evil dominance and status
has already been defined by the society. In short, he has the licence to do
everything that suits his purpose.
Meltem, in his article observes that male
domination and female submission can also be exemplified while drawing
attention to the Bad Wolf’s speech. The Wolf’s discourse about the girl is
presented to us “What a tender young creature this girl is! What a tasty meal
she would make.” The adjectives ‘young girl’ and ‘tasty meal’ are complimenting
each other sharply while considering the male society, i.e., the girl is
subservient to the patriarchal rules and laws. She is the meal to satisfy the
hunger of male members of the society.
The Hunter, in the discourse, is chosen specially to
stand out the man’s power and also can be referred to as a hunter who rescues
women with his dominance as traditional hunters try to make a plan in
order to catch their “hunt”.
According to van Dijk, it can be argued that the institution
of patriarchy has been legitimized by the society. It may be referred to as power
abuse, andthe negative effects of the exercise of power result in social
inequality. Men and women, both are descended with the same wits and talents
then how it occurred that one won over the other to dominate and rule? The
answer to this question is that gender is a social construct. The society has
led us to believe that men are physically strong, valiant, strategist and the
rescuers whereas the women are weak, dependent and only a source of continuation
of human species.
The
hunteris projected as the representative of the male-dominated society. As soon
as, he listens to the “loud snoring” of the old lady, he feels dutiful. The verb
phrase “I better try”refers to his manliness, bravery and dutifulness. Where
the society teaching the young females to be naïve and submissive, it is
projecting that male members of the society should be brave, courageous and
dominating. The hunter took the ‘loud snoring’ as the pitiful plight of the old
lady that she may be in a trouble and needs the help of a male saviour.
“He
entered”, “realized”, “and was about to shoot” are theverbs that are used to
show the male actions. It also shows the quick wits of the hunter. Meanwhile,
the hunter comes across another “realization” that perhaps the old lady may be
eaten up by the wolf. As a matter of fact, the hunter’s ‘far-sightedness proves
him right. One may argue that it should be a matter of pure common sense;
however, it was “he” and not the Red Hood who realized the fact first.
“The
hunter put down his rifle” and “picked up a pair of scissors”, again shows the nouns(rifle,
scissors)reserved for male members of the society; the hunter’s dominance is
established through his rapid actions, he moves smoothly from ‘rifle’ to ‘scissors’
to snip off the wolf’s tummy. He could have searched for ‘knife’ to cut the
tummy, but he did not waste the time and used whatever came into his hand to
save the life of the old lady.
“He
snipped” at least five times, exhibits the hunter’s focused and persistent
approach towards getting a goal accomplished, unlike Red Hood whose approach
was not focused, and consequently brought her into trouble.For that matter, the
wolf’s approach was also focused that he made the girl busy in collecting
flowers and “ran straight” and “swallowed” both of them. Also the wolf and the
hunter remained on the “straight” line of action throughout the end.
The
discourse tells another fact about the hunter that “he had been hunting for
years”, the verb phrasehints at the reason of male dominance in the society;
they are dominantbecause they are involved in such dangerous tasks. The traditional
profession that they adopt is that of ‘hunting’. This may appear to be the
ancient profession of the society where men have to earn bread by hunting
animals for their families. This is why,the hunter is skilful and quick in his
manners.
It
is only the arrival of the hunter that the reader finds a
ray of hope. The hunter, in the tale, is depicted as the heroic male figure who
eventually saves the young girl and the old day. As soon as, the Red Hood comes
out of the wolf’s tummy, she cries out: “Thank Heavens you came to our rescue.”
Her spontaneous thankfulness to the hunter suggests the knowledge and teachings
that the patriarchal society has bestowed her with. The young females are made
to believe that they are dependent andthat their survival is in the hand of
men, alone.
Also
when the women are rescued, they are supposed to be full with gratitude for
their rescuer, that is always a male and this idea is constant in almost all
fairy tales. It may also be a way of establishing male superiority over female.
Generally, the young girls in the fairy tales fall in love with their rescuer
because they believe that finally they have met with the person who would
always protect them from the outside world.
Little Red Riding Hoodis
like all the other fairy tales where the girls/princesses wait for the “male
rescuer” to get them out of the trouble. This kind of discourse conveys the
message of “submission to male authority”. This is how the discourse controls
the minds of the people and these hegemonic ideas become a part of the social
cognition. Thevoice of the female is suppressed or moulded and remoulded in
order to achieve a certain ideology, that is, male dominance.
The
wolf that used to be a threat to all is controlled by the ‘man’ where they fill
his tummy with rocks and stones. And then the wolf “could never” catch children
or young ladies “anymore”. Whatever the heroic tasks are there, performed by
the males and not the female. There is a clear divide between male and female as
us and themin the society: women are doing all the household chores and
hospitality whereas the men appear only as the “rescuer” of the former
creatures.
Thus
the Little Red Riding Hood learns her lesson tough and a hard one. She never
straysfrom the path “ever again”. This also implies the fact that the Red Hood
has accepted her weaknesses and vulnerability as a female.
To
conclude, we may saythat aCritical Discourse Analysis of the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hoodprovides an insight
into the crucial role of discourse in the reproduction of dominance and
inequality. It provides a clear perspective of how gender roles are created in
the society. The discourse presents an explicit binary between male and female
members of the society: ‘what the women should do and what males should do’. Gender
is a social construct; this idea has been adopted by all the members of the
society without question. The integration of theselaws, norms and other
discourses of general consensusare the result of the power of dominant groups
which becomes a part of the social and eventually personal cognition.
Works Cited
Alwina, Alex. The Little Red Riding Hood in feminism perspective: Classy Corner BlogSpot.
2013. Web.
Dijk, Teun A. van.Discourse &
Society. London: SAGE, vol. 4(2) 1993. Print.
Erika. Feminist interpretations of Little Red Riding Hood.Pbworks. 2010. Web.
Gee,
James. An Introduction to Discourse
Analysis Theory and Method.New York: Routledge,
2011. Print.
Jacob, Wilhelm.Little Red Riding Hood.Speakaboo.Web. 14.04.14.
Karabulut,Gülay.Discourse Analysis of a Politically Correct Version
of Little Red Riding Hood. Academia.edu. Web.
Zipes,
Jack. The Trials and Tribulations of
Little Red Riding Hood.2ndEd.New York:
Routledge, 1993. Print.
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