I had never read or heard of the version of the Three Little Pigs by Roald Dahl before reading it for this class. Since I had never read it, I was really engaged throughout the short tale. There are many different versions of the Three Little Pigs, and in the versions that I read in the past the pigs all lived. So, this was a different take on the tale that I already knew. Personally, I looked at the three pigs with sympathy. They were trying to build their, two of them were eaten by the big bad wolf and the last pig was killed by Little Red Riding Hood houses with not much explanation. It was a shock at first to see her show up in this tale, I laughed when the pig called her up to save him. It was really shocking that she pulled a “pistol from her knickers” and then killed the wolf and the pig. In her own tale, she doesn’t have much agency at all, but in this story, she has more agency than the pigs, which I think is interesting for Dahl to do. It’s a story about three pigs, but they really don’t have much agency at all.
Happily Ever After
Or, Literary Theory and the Fairy Tale Genre
I also had never heard of this version of the “Three Little Pigs,” so I am glad that I am not alone. I was shocked when Little Red Riding Hood appears and kills the wolf and the pig but this scene also has me questioning why did Little Red Riding Hood kill the pig? There was no reason for her to kill the pig yet Roald Dahl decided to write it in and that facinates me.
Like both you and James pointed out, I was shocked when Little Red Riding Hood killed not only the wolf but the pig too. I thought it was interesting since finally LRRH seemed to be the savior in the story, like the huntsmen was in hers, yet she then turns on the one who asked for her help. I find this choice interesting and also wonder why Roald Dahl included it. Did he have an intention behind it or was it just for shock value?
I also was shocked but kinda also enjoyed the mash up of the Three Little Pigs and LRRH. By killing the pig and wolf she becomes almost the villain which is not present in the other versions we had read. It’s almost like she is stealing her agency back, because as you mentioned the pigs seem to lack it. What is it with lead characters and their lack of agency?