Company Of Wolves

Everyone seems to be afraid of these wolves “fear and flee the wolf; for, worst of all, the wolf may be more then he seems” which could mean that the wolf isn’t necessarily after fresh meat but that he just wants sex. The wolf only sees women as meat. It kind of reminds me of “The Wedding Singer” where Glenn grades his women with the FDA system, for example if he thought a woman was top of the line he would say that she was Grade A, top choice meat. At the end of the story, the wolf seems to be put in his place by the girl because she doesn’t fear him and when he tries to frighten her with telling her he’s going to eat her, she just laughs at him and rips off his clothes.

In Seven Monster Theses, Jeffery Cohen develops an idea that “monsters” are essential to society. In fact, they construct what is “normal”, “rational”, and “civilized”. Specifically, “monsters” are foundational to how we view ourselves. “Monsters” contain all the traits deemed unacceptable and odd. It can be concluded that every outlier is a “monster”. In St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen Russell tells the story of a pack of wolf girls who are transitioning into young ladies. Russell delves into society’s need for conformity, gender roles, and change. The story is told from the point of view of the middle wolf girl, Claudette, and follows her on her journey from wolf to woman. In relation to Jeffery Cohen’s idea of monster culture, Claudette’s journey applies to Thesis IV “The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference” and part of Thesis I “The Monster’s Body is a Cultural Body”. Claudette is torn between two worlds and she has to learn how to successfully “move between the two cultures”. Through Cohen’s theses, Karen Russell uses character development and dialogue to depict the inner and outer battle of societal femininity and individualized femininity and the consequence of accepting either side. The presence of “monsters” are essential for this acceptance.

Upon first reading “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves,” it might seem like an imaginative fantasy and nothing else. The story focuses on the daughters of a pack of werewolves, and it takes place in a world where the werewolves and their daughters are nothing out of the ordinary. But upon closer examination, this is a story rooted in reality. This inventive tale parallels several real world phenomena. Karen Russell uses allegory in “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” to objectify western society’s views of people outside of that society and of outsiders in general, and compare them to the views that people have of wild animals.

In the excerpt “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” by Karen Russell the narrator speaks as a half wolf half human mind set. She discusses the improvements and difficulties of living in captivity after being free and wild their entire lives. There are three (3) main characters, Mirabella (youngest), Claudette who is the middle child of the three (3) sisters, and last but certainly not least, Jeanette. These girls are few of an entire “pack” of half human half wolf. The pack is referred to as a whole throughout the duration of this excerpt. They experience difficulty in the transition of the “wolf-identity” into more of a “human-identity”. This short story exemplifies how the difficulty of change after being exposed to ones “tradition” for so long differs for each “person” wolf or not.

Because the key to change is acceptance and the girls, including the main narrator, do not fully accept themselves in their new way of life, the transition from a wolf to a human life is never complete, leaving them in a place where they feel they do not belong. As readers, “the growing pains, the victory over culture shock, are so suggestive that we don't know where our sympathies lie. [We don’t know if we] should… admire civilized existence or primitive warfare” (Irving

Werewolves a very well-known fantasy creature, who have been depicted as vicious beasts who will turn on their best friends. In the lay “Bisclavret” the stereotypes of werewolves is no different. Marie de France redefines the werewolf in a very courageous tale of a man and his loyalty. Bisclavret was a very loyal man regardless being werewolf or not. This was shown in multiple scenarios, such as the interaction with his and wife and with the King. The O.E.D. defines loyalty as “Faithful adherence to one's promise, oath, word of honor” (def.1). Throughout the entire story Bisclavret is faithful to everyone he made an oath too. Others have to break

‘The Company of Wolves’ is a twisted and raw reinvention of ‘Little Red Ridding Hood’ while symbolizing female sexuality and embracing it. The wolves in the story have been described by the author as skin and bones, “so little flesh on them that you could count the starveling ribs”. Their food source has been taken away by

Werewolves are creatures that have been presented in many literary works and films for years, and are described to be cruel cannibalistic animals that shapeshift during every full moon. Although the character of the werewolf can symbolize many different things, there is an intriguing link between the werewolf figure and humans committing cruel abusive acts that actually make them the repulsive predator. Literary and folkloric texts like Wolfland by Tanith Lee, The Werewolves Daughter, and The Damnable Life and Death of Stubbe Peter by George Bores, explores different issues presented in society like sexual predators, abusive relationships, and the natural desire to kill which connects back to the werewolf figure. This connection explains that

Metamorphoses of the Werewolf is a book that charts the evolution, growth and changes of werewolf stories “from Antiquity Throughout the Renaissance.” Each chapter focuses on a tale or set of myths in different time periods, and analyzes them, comparing and contrasting, as well as theorizing the meaning behind them based on textual evidence, mainly from church and court documents. Through this method, Ms. Sconduto points out direct correlations between werewolves and the belief systems of the churches in power.

The whole short story is laced with allusions to coming of age and subtle sexual imagery; in this excerpt Carter uses the double-entendre of the word ‘meat’ to create an image of violence (becoming the wolf’s meat suggests brutal disembowelment) and sexual objectification (the wolf sees the girl as simply a virgin sex object; a piece of meat for his consumption), to which the girl not only objects, but

Willem de Blécourt says in his literary journal “I Would Have Eaten You Too”, where he documents and analyzes werewolf tales local to German, Denmark and Belgium, “The German subtype deals with how a man abandons his wife, comes back as a werewolf, bites into her skirt, petticoat, or apron, or some other piece of clothing, then goes off again, and comes back in human form, and is later revealed as the werewolf by the remnants of her clothing evident between his teeth” (Blécourt 28-29). This references back to the garwolf being a vicious creature, but also hints at the sexually devious nature of werewolves as well. The ripping of female garments is symbolic of an attack on a woman’s virtue. Blécourt describes again later in the journal, “...we can read the woven piece of cloth as representing humanity…” (35), showing that a true werewolf only seeks to defile and kill those who hold the humanity he has lost. Though he toils away in secret, deep in the forest, the knight remains an honorable man in both of his forms. “This beast understands, feels like a man,”(France) says the King, an old and loyal friend of the knight. Even in his beast-like state, the knight does not bow to the primal needs associated with beasthood, for he is unparalleled in his humanity. France uses the werewolf mythos to put the character of the knight on an even higher pedestal. Not only is he an

1. The wolf is a pack animal. What does it mean to be a pack animal?

In “Monster Culture”, Jeffery Cohen develops an idea that “monsters” are essential to society. In fact, they construct what is “normal”, “rational”, and “civilized”. Specifically, “monsters” are foundational to how we view ourselves. “Monsters” contain all the traits deemed unacceptable and odd. It can be concluded that every outlier is a “monster”. In St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen Russell tells the story of a pack of wolf girls who are transitioning into young ladies. Russell delves into society’s need for conformity, gender roles, and change. The story is told from the point of view of the middle wolf girl, Claudette, and follows her on her journey from wolf to woman. In relation to Jeffery Cohen’s idea of monster culture, Claudette’s journey applies to Thesis IV “The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference” and part of Thesis I “The Monster’s Body is a Cultural Body”. Claudette is torn between two worlds and she has to learn how to successfully “move between the two cultures”. Through Cohen’s theses, Karen Russell uses character development and dialogue to depict the inner and outer battle of societal femininity and individualized femininity and the decision of accepting either side. The presence of “monsters” are essential for this acceptance.

In The Company of Wolves Carter endeavours to restore the helpless girl created in Perrault’s tale into a witty and self-reliant woman, fitting of today’s modern feminist. She is presented as a young woman in touch with her own sexuality who takes control of the situation and therefore saves herself from being eaten. In direct contrast, her grandmother, who conforms to the patriarchal systems of oppression, ends up dead. The grandmother represents the older generation; her life reduced to remembering her marriage and being devoted to the bible. Her lack of initiative to change her own life ultimately seals her fate. The reader is given evidence early on that the young girl does not conform to patriarchal

Main point #1: While Perrault presents a cautionary tale on the predators that target little, innocent naive girls; Carter restructures the identities of the wolf and the girl, through using of metaphors that capture the uncertain nature of man’s beastliness and humanity and women’s virginity and sexuality.