The Wolf Argument

Upon further contemplation, even if I can pull off spring green nails, I'm not sure I want to.

Today in class we discussed versions of Little Red Riding Hood stories.... of what these stories say about our culture. Of the themes that we can pull out of them and I realized something about myself in the midst of a discussion. We were talking about a Little Red Riding Hood book that was set in the southwest- In the desert, and in this book her mother warns her not to stray from the path, because it's rattlesnake season. Then LRRH meets the wolf and the story happens and at one point in the book you see LRRH's horse has apparently stepped on a rattlesnake because it has stars around it's head but it isn't actually mentioned. I didn't even read this book, but someone asked why the author talks about rattlesnakes when those aren't the danger of the book, and they kinda started to bash the author for this, and finally I said, "Because maybe the things that you are warned about aren't the things you really need to watch out for."

My teacher looked at me strangely- cause who says that rattlesnakes aren't something you need to watch out for? Then she said, "Well, I think rattlesnakes are deadly. If one bites you you have to get the venom out within hours..."

I interrupted her and said, "I'm not saying rattlesnakes aren't dangerous... but they give you warning. The mother in the story gives her warning and rattlesnakes... well, they rattle. She knows about the rattlesnakes and their danger... They can be avoided. But she doesn't have a warning about the wolf and that's the real danger to her..."

And then my teacher said, "So in real life, you are careful of the rattlesnakes, but sometimes it's the wolves that get you."

And then I realized that I was feeling so strongly about defending this author, cause I've been warned about a whole host of rattlesnakes, and managed to avoid every single one as if it wasn't even there. But that stupid wolf... that's what got me and I had no warning at all. Sometimes you do exactly what you are supposed to do, all your life. You follow all the instructions and you are just the very best person that you know how to be and still you run into a wolf. But maybe that's not the best theme for a children's book, and maybe that's not what the author was trying to say... she just wanted to make her book more authentic..

I don't really know, but my teacher thinks I have a very strong argument.