The story of Little Red Riding Hood is another classic fairytale which uses repetition with variants (‘all the better to hear you with… see you…’ etc.) to reinforce its point. The basic moral of the story reminds us that it’s dangerous to talk to strangers and that danger lurks in unexpected places; this is the story of another little girl in the forest, off to visit her sick grandmother with a basket of food, who finds the hungry wolf she meets in the forest has other ways to deceive her (the wolf gobbles her grandmother and pretends to be the grandmother to beguile the little girl.)
Such fairytales clearly have the potential to scare children; they are a reminder that life is not perhaps as safe and saccharine as we would like it to be. The wolf’s slyness and cunning remind us that we have an enemy who can appear to us in different guises; the smooth lies of the serpent are just as dangerously deceptive as the roaring of the lion. Little Red Riding Hood is naive and does not immediately recognise the wolf in her grandmother’s clothing. We too need to be on our guard, for the enemy – as C. S. Lewis skilfully reminds us in The Screwtape Letters – can appear to be eminently plausible and reasonable. We’re on our guard against a wolf, but the wolf does not always look like a wolf, hence the need for ongoing vigilance.
This fairytale warns of the pitfalls and perils in life, and we too need to be very aware of these, especially the dangers of deception. The serpent deceived Eve in the garden and is perfectly capable of deceiving us too. (Gen 3:13) In addition, the pride of our hearts can deceive us (Obadiah 1:3) and we can easily be led astray and distracted from a pure devotion to Christ. (2 Cor 11:3) The wolf doesn’t always look like a wolf… The devil does not always look devilish… but the consequences remain dire if we succumb to his deception. We don’t need to be discouraged, however. The woodcutter comes to Little Red Riding Hood’s rescue and we have a Rescuer who is mighty to save us too. (Ps 81:7)