Little Red Riding Hood and The Wolf - Roald Dahl

 

Little Red Riding Hood and The Wolf   - Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl is considered as one of the greatest storytellers of the 20^th Century. He has written novels, short stories and poems. His children’s books were made into movies. His well known works are ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, ‘The BFG’, and ‘Matilda’. Little Red Riding Hood by Roald  Dahl was published in 1982 in Revolting Rhymes. Dahl’s LRRH is a humorous, contemporary spin on the well known fairy tale. Dahl starts the retelling off by skipping the introduction to the characters and the major details because majority of his audience has most likely heard this story.

The Wolf gets hungry, goes to Grandma’s house. He eats her up in one bite but is not satisfied yet, so he decides to put on Grandma’s clothes and wait for LRRH to arrive. When she comes in, she comments on Wolf’s big ears and eyes. The Wolf responds that they will help hear and see her better. Then she asks about his furry coat. ‘That’s wrong’ the wolf says pointing out that she was supposed to ask her about his teeth. Regardless, he says, he is going to eat her up. Before he has a chance, the small girl pulls a pistol from her knickers and shoots him in the head. The narrator explains that he met Miss Riding Rood a few weeks later in the wood and was impressed by the new ‘lovely furry wolf skin coat’. This is the major turning point in how Dahl creates his own retelling.

Dahl created LRRH as a smart, tough woman to show the progression of the original story to modern day. What Dahl has done here is to manipulate the functions, so that in his version, LHHR’s role is of an active, seeker heroine. Thus, if in Grimm’s tale she was the haunted, in Dahl’s version she is the hunter, an unexpected reversal roles. In the original fairy tale, LRRH had to wait for the huntsman to come and rescue her, but in Revolting Rhymes the little girl stands on her own feet showing she needs no brave young man or a prince to save her from her foe. She becomes the heroine of the piece. Thus we could say Dahl’s LRRH as an attempt to make  the tale politically correct according to the sensibilities of today.

Robin Hood and The Monk - Robert Jamieson

 

Robin Hood and The Monk  - Robert Jamieson

Robin Hood and The Monk was first  printed  in 1806 by Robert Jamieson  in his work Popular Ballads And Songs From Tradition.

 The ballad tells about one of Robin's adventures.  Robin wanted to attend a mass in Nottingham because of his devotion to the Virgin Mary. One of his men, Much, the Millers son and one of Robin hoods men, advised him to bring at least twelve men but Robin hood decided to bring only one, Little John. Little John was Robin Hood's lieutenant. He was an excellent swordsman and archer. On their way the two had a bet in which Robin was defeated but refused to agree on the pay out. This made Little John angry and left Robin. Later Robin reached Saint Mary's in Nottingham and started to pray. A monk who was robbed by Robin Hood in the past noticed him in the church. On seeing him, the monk quickly reported Robin Hood's presence to the Sheriff.  Sheriff came to the church and arrested Robin. Little John decided to rescue Robin with Much and the other men. The Monk and his page headed to the King to inform Robin’s arrest. On the way they were caught by Little John and Much. Little John killed the Monk and Much killed the page and erased the witnesses.

The two went to meet the king in disguise as the Monk’s companion and reported the Monk’s sudden death on their journey. They gave the Monk’s letter to the King. In return the King gave them gifts and direction to bring Robin to him.

Little John gave the King’s letter to the Sheriff and told him that the Monk did not come because the King made him an abbot. They got into the prison, killed the jailer and managed to bust Robin out.

In the end, Robin felt indebted to Little John for his timely help. He offered John a position to be the leader of the group, but John refused and wanted Robin to remain as his master. On the other side, the King was enraged by the incompetence of his men but admired Little John’s loyalty.

England as a Welfare State

 

England as a Welfare State

The First World War and the Second World War shattered the economy of England. Common men were in need of aid by the government. In order to help such people, the Labour Government introduced a series of welfare schemes. Sir William Beveridge, a warm sociologist of the twentieth century, analysed the pathetic condition of poor people. He drew up an elaborate ‘cradle to the grave’ scheme to help the poor.  The Labour Government put into effect many of his recommendations.

The Family Allowance Act

This Act granted five shillings a week to the second and each successive child

Retirement Pensions

Old age pensions were granted to retired and old people to enable them to live comfortably with self-respect.

The Health Service Act

This Act gave free medical service to old people who needed surgery or specialist consultations. Doctors received an annual sum for each old person treated free of cost by him.

The National Assistance Act

This Act opened hostels for the care of pensioners, physically disabled people and tubercular patients.

Free education

A number of state schools giving free education to children were opened. Free milk was given to all the students of these schools.

These schemes were criticized by the people in the beginning because it makes people lazy. But the needy are certainly thankful to the British government.

 

The Falkland War

 

The Falkland War

Falkland Islands War, also called Falklands War, Malvinas War, or South Atlantic War, a brief undeclared war fought between Argentina and Great Britain in 1982 over control of the  Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and associated island dependencies.

Argentina had claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, which lie 300 miles (480 km) east of its coast, since the early 19th century, but  Britain  seized the islands in 1833, expelling the few remaining Argentine occupants, and since then consistently rejected Argentina’s claims. In early 1982 the Argentine military Junta led by Lieut. Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri gave up on long-running negotiations with Britain and instead launched an invasion of the islands. The decision to invade was chiefly political: the junta, which was being criticized for economic mismanagement and human rights’ abuses, believed that the “recovery” of the islands would unite Argentines behind the government in a patriotic fervour. An elite invasion force trained in secrecy, but its timetable was shortened on March 19 when a dispute erupted on British-controlled  South Georgia island, where Argentine salvage workers had raised the Argentine flag, 800 miles (1,300 km) east of the Falklands. Naval forces were quickly mobilized.

Argentine troops invaded the Falklands on April 2, rapidly overcoming the small garrison of British marines at the capital Stanley (Port Stanley); they obeyed orders not to inflict any British casualties, despite losses to their own units. The next day Argentine marines seized the associated island of South Georgia. By late April Argentina had stationed more than 10,000 troops on the Falklands, although the vast majority of these were poorly trained conscripts, and they were not supplied with proper food, clothing, and shelter for the approaching winter.

As expected, the Argentine populace reacted favourably, with large crowds gathering at the Plaza de Mayo (in front of the presidential palace) to demonstrate support for the military initiative. In response to the invasion, the British government under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher declared a war zone for 200 miles (320 km) around the Falklands. The government quickly assembled a naval task force built around two aircraft carriers, the 30-year-old HMS Hermes and the new HMS Invincible light carrier, and two cruise ships pressed into service as troop carriers, the  Queen Elizabeth 2 and the Canberra. The carriers sailed from Portsmouth on April 5 and were reinforced en route. Most European powers voiced support for Great Britain, and European military advisers were withdrawn from Argentine bases. However, most Latin American governments sympathized with Argentina. A notable exception was  Chile, which maintained a state of alert against its neighbour because of a dispute over islands in the  Beagle Channel. The perceived threat from Chile prompted Argentina to keep most of its elite troops on the mainland, distant from the Falklands theatre. In addition, Argentine military planners had trusted that the  United States would remain neutral in the conflict, but, following unsuccessful mediation attempts, the United States offered full support to Great Britain, allowing its NATO ally to use its air-to-air missiles, communications equipment, aviation fuel, and other military stockpiles on British-held Ascension Island, as well as cooperating with military intelligence.

 

The Gulf War

 

The Gulf War

On 2^nd August 1990 Saddam Hussein the leader of Iraq invaded Kuwait. Kuwait is a tiny oil-producing state in the Persian Gulf. The response of the international community was swift. The United Nations demanded Iraq to withdraw the war and to impose a trade embargo. A US-led coalition force made up of nearly one million service personnel from 32 countries, including 53,457 from the United Kingdom, was assembled to expel the Iraq should diplomacy fail.

The United Nation set a deadline of 15^th January 1991 for Iraq forces to leave Kuwait. This deadline was ignored by Iraq. The air war began on 17^th January with coalition aircraft flying over 100,000 sorties. Land operations started on 24^th February and were successfully concluded in just five days. Coalition forces lost 392 dead, including 47 British soldiers. Iraq battle deaths were estimated at between 20,000 and 35,000, while over 3000 civilians were killed in coalition air strikes.

Saddam Hussein remained in power in Iraq and subsequent sanctions left the country economically crippled and internationally isolated. Later America dethroned Saddam Hussein under the pretext that he was undemocratic and in possession of dangerous weapons.

The Cold War

 

The Cold War

The Cold War was a conflict between two superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union  (USSR), and their respective allies. Historians usually agree that the Cold War  began between 1947 and 1948, with the introduction of the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan and ended with the  Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.

The Cold War is, therefore, better defined as a long period of conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. The purpose of the conflict for either side was to spread their ideologies throughout the world. The goal of the US was to promote open-market capitalism, and the USSR aimed to spread one-party state communism.

Britain wasn't a main player in the Cold War, but as we will see through our timeline, its alliance with the United States made it a participant nonetheless.

We can divide Britain’s role in the Cold War into two periods: its involvement in the earlier years and in the later years of the conflict.

In the early stages, Britain participated in the creation of the Truman Doctrine, it fought against the communists in Greece, Germany, and Korea during the Korean War, and it started to work on creating its own nuclear weapons.

In the later stages of the conflict, Britain continued to support the US’ Cold War efforts in the Vietnam War. Margaret Thatcher also played a significant role in bringing about the end of the Cold War during those years.

 

 

The Second World War and its Impact on England

 

The Second World War and its Impact on England

Mussolini of Italy and Hitler of Germany were war mongers. Italy attacked Abyssinia and Germany attacked Poland. Japan attacked China. These acts of aggression developed into a Second World War. Russia sided with Germany. England declared war on Germany.

Germany was victorious in the beginning. It defeated countries like Austria, Poland, Denmark, etc. America jumped into the fray to stop the victories of Germany. Hitler advanced to attack Russia. But the cold climate of Russia proved unbearable to the German soldiers. Many German cities were destroyed. Hitler was helpless. He committed suicide.

America dropped atom bombs on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This incident brought the Second World War to an end. England and America emerged victorious. But it was a dubious victory. The U.N.O was formed in order to avert future wars.

Like the First World War, the Second World War also had a disastrous effect on England. Unemployment was on the increase. The government implemented many welfare schemes in order to distress of the people.