Then Little Red Riding Hood said, "But Grandma,
what a lovely great big furry coat you have on."
This quote is interesting in a poetic sense in that it is the only line within the poem that is not rhyming. This notwithstanding, it foreshadows the major change in the poem from the original fairy tale. In fact, it foreshadows Little Red Riding Hood's intention to kill the wolf with her pistol, as she is a crack shot, and has come to the meeting fully armed.
She is also surprising the Wolf with her words as he also is very familiar with the traditional fairy tale representation of their encounter. Like the reader he is awaiting her observations about the size of his teeth. This also has the effect of aligning the Wolf and the reader in that both are surprised by the turn of events that is occurring in the poem.
I guess you think you know this story.
You don't. The real one's much more gory.
The phoney one, the one you know,
Was cooked up years and years ago.
And made to sound all soft and sappy
Just to keep the children happy.
This is an interesting opening to the poem; Dahl is addressing the reader directly, and also stating that the traditional story of Cinderella that is familiar to everyone is actually a misrepresentation of the real thing. The real story has been softened and sanitized over the years so that parents feel comfortable reading it to their children; the real story has been hidden in what almost amounts to a conspiracy. The narrator lets us know that it is high time the truth was revealed, and the real story of Cinderella shared with the world.
"If Ican't blow it down," Wolf said
"I'll have to blow it up instead.
I'll come back in the dead of night
And blow it up with dynamite!"
Pig cried, "You brute! I might have known!"
Then picking up the telephone,
He dialed as quickly as he could
The number of Red Riding Hood.
Two of the Three Little Pigs have constructed their homes from straw and twigs, and therefore Wolf was easily able to huff and puff and blow their houses down. Not so for the third Little Pig; he used bricks to build his house and consequently Wolf cannot blow it down so easily. He decides to blow it up instead.
Pig's reaction to this is to call Little Red Riding Hood. Not only has Dahl updated the story with the addition of a telephone, he also suggests that all of the characters from the fairy tales are actually acquainted with each other. After killing one wolf, Red Riding Hood is well known in the community as a sharp shooter and this is why she is the first person called when another wolf needs to be dispatched.
