The Big Bad Wolf Stereotypes

The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” was written by the author Joyce Carol Oates in 1966. Oates describes her idea for the story after briefly reading an article about the real-life murderer, Charles Schmid, who lured and murdered three teenage girls (Kirszner & Mandell 523). She uses this idea to create the character, Arnold Friend, and his victim, Connie. Connie is a typical teenage girl portrayed as naïve and self-centered. The short story appears realistic, given that the conflict in the story is based off of real events. Oates unexpectedly adds allusions to fairy tales throughout the story that suggest a much deeper meaning than the initial realistic interpretation. The use of fairy tales adds a vitally important element to the story that evil can be lurking in unexpected places.

There are many language examples within the novel, Kingdom Keepers: Disney after Dark by Ridley Pearson. Kingdom Keepers: Disney after Dark is a novel that depicts the story of five children who become Disney Host Interactives and have to save the Disney Amusement Park from the Overtakers, a group of evil characters. In addition to their standard lives at school, the five teenagers need to constantly be aware of the situations at Disney. One example of a language example is its title, which is used to introduce the book. This language example correlates to the theme of, “Good and evil coexist.” This theme is evident as villains and figures of evil are often associated with darkness, the protagonists always beat the antagonists, and heroes need to cooperate.

The famous 17th century poet Jean de la Fontaine once said “Anyone entrusted with power will abuse it if not also animated with the love of truth and virtue, no matter whether he be a prince, or one of the people.” When the children in Lord of the Flies find themselves stranded on a distant island with no adults to be found, they encounter many forms of power, hence encountering many forms of abuse of power as well. This power abuse can be organized by the two leaders who each ruled the island during their own periods. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding utilizes these leaders, Ralph and Jack, to illustrate how people in positions of power will abuse their power for personal gain when given the opportunity.

Wolves, when in groups, are universally threatening and recurrently feared. This being known, they are often portrayed as an evil or opposing force. Although, on occasion, they have also been known to be referred to as “noble creatures who can teach us many things.” (http://www.wolfcountry.net/) But consequently, despite the popular interpretation of wolves and their characteristics, each story presents its own interpretation of their many characteristics.

Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat is a non-fiction story about naturalist Farley Mowat, on an expedition to find out why so many caribou were being killed. Mowat’s superiors believed that wolves were killing the caribou. He spent almost a year investigating the wolves’ way of life focusing on a small pack made up of two males and a female with her pups. Mowat camped near their den and observed their eating and hunting habits.He observed that wolves rarely ate caribou and when they did, it was the weak and sick ones. Also, with the help of Ootek, a local Eskimo he was able to understand how wolves communicate and hunt, and he saw that these wolves were not a tremendous threat to the caribou. This book gives the reader a view into the life of these wild animals and how they all work together in their unique environment. Mowat had many doubts, but he slowly understood the truth about wolves. He also spent time following the wolves as they hunted and he examined their techniques. Mowat even experienced close up encounters and the wolves did not treat him like a foreigner. Mowat and his colleagues had the wrong idea about the wolves and this novel allows the reader to be able to see the truth.

“What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? (79)”, this quote is from the book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Which is about a group of young boys that are marooned on an island for quite some time and have to make their own society. Ralph steps up as the leader of the boys but later on in the book, the position is taken by Jack which turns chaotic. The chaos leads to many problems within the group of boys. In the book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, it is shown that individuals make up society, Jack’s tribe shows this by controlling the boys with his beliefs, and making up his own rules that break the initial ones, although, the opposing side may say that society shapes the individuals.

Throughout life, we all go through rough moments where we think all is lost. However, we as humans always grow from these experiences and turn into beings with a new awakening and understanding of the world. In a passage from The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy, the narrator describes a striking ordeal, in which a man is coping with the death of a she-wolf. Despite the cause of death being left ambiguous, this dramatic experience has a vivid effect on the main character—causing him to change and grow into a new man by the end of the passage. McCarthy uses eloquent and expressive diction to create imagery which gives the reader an understanding of the narrator’s experience, supplemented by spiritual references as well as setting changes, elucidating the deep sadness and wonder felt by the protagonist.

A battle between good and evil is a common plot to Dracula. The forces of evil, Count Dracula and other vampires (the un-dead), try to take over Britain. The novel heroes Dr. Van Helsing, Dr. John Seward, Johnathan Haker, Quincy Morris, and Arthur Holmwood are the first responders for this evil invasion of the British Empire. In the novel the characters Dracula and Van Helsing play a major role for being the leaders of their respective groups, therefore they controlled the actions of their groups. Dracula’s actions in the novel have the purpose to flourish the rise of the un-dead, while Van Helsing’s actions aim to preserve and protect the human race.

There is an estimated 60,000 wolves in Canada. Farley Mowat studies the grey wolf in his book Never Cry Wolf (1963). Throughout the book, Mowat uses the rhetorical strategies pathos, logos, and personification to disprove the misconception about wolves. The book is about a scientist (Farley Mowat) that flies into the Canadian Barrens in order to research wolves. His goal is to prove that wolves are killing thousands of caribou for sport, but he find that the wolves are not to blame for the decrease in caribou populations.

Theodore Roosevelt said “speak softly and carry a big stick” some people have no idea what he means by this quote, We never thought wolves would become as much of a problem until now. I believe the wolf population is happening right under our noses and we don't even know it yet. Even though the wolf numbers might not recover, wolves should be hunted because wolves are killing large numbers of deer and livestock and wolves are endangering humans and farmers.

Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat is a non-fiction story about naturalist Farley Mowat, on an expedition to find out why so many caribou were being killed. Mowat’s superiors believed that wolves were killing the caribou. He spent almost a year investigating the wolves’ way of life focusing on a small pack made up of two males and a female with her pups. Mowat camped near their den and observed their eating and hunting habits.He observed that wolves rarely ate caribou and when they did, it was the weak and sick ones. Also, with the help of Ootek, a local Eskimo he was able to understand how wolves communicate and hunt, and he saw that these wolves were not a tremendous threat to the caribou. This book gives the reader a view into the life of these wild animals and how they all work together in their unique environment. Mowat had many doubts, but he slowly understood the truth about wolves. He also spent time following the wolves as they hunted and he examined their techniques. Mowat even experienced close up encounters and the wolves did not treat him like a foreigner. Mowat and his colleagues had the wrong idea about the wolves and this novel allows the reader to be able to see the truth.

The presentation of Good vs. Evil is one of the main themes in the novel, Dracula. The portrayal of good and evil is seen in each character throughout the book. The characters considered “evil” in the novel are Dracula and his vampire brides. Dracula converts humans into vampires and has immense power over certain individuals. Everything he does demonstrates that there is no good in him at all. His vampire brides assist to Dracula’s dark deeds. What they all have in common is that they prey upon humans. On the other hand, the characters that are considered “good” in the novel are Jonathan Harker, Dr. Van Helsing, John Seward, Quincey Morris and Arthur Holmwood. Throughout the novel, the good characters are constantly doing generous deeds to save others from Dracula.

It is implied that when Jack convinces the boys to murder Simon that he knows the beast is just a figment of their imaginations. Despite this, Jack instills fear within the boys that the beast is still alive. “I expect the beast disguised himself.”(145) Here, to keep himself in power Jack tells the boys the beast is still alive despite knowing the truth. He uses his perceived knowledge of the beast to give himself an advantage over Ralph. Jack’s manipulation even is used to justify the death of Simon later. Simon is brutally murdered but Jack claims that the beast is just taking a different form rather than acknowledging the group’s wrong. The book suggests that Jack knows of the murder of Simon“This head is for the beast. It's a gift.”(146) In this instance Jack tells the boys that he somehow has control over the beast. This shows how Jack uses the beast to draw the children towards him as the leader of the group. He always desires to rule over the boys and the beast is his scapegoat to do

In Angela Carter’s “The Company of Wolves” the wolves are perceived as dangerous and aggressive creatures posing threat to humans. In small villages, the children are given weapons just to protect themselves from the evil wolves. However, in Angela Carter’s story, a male can turn into a wolf. This undermines the binary oppositions for Carter’s story. Aaron Devor states in “Gender Roles Behaviors and Attitudes”, how the females are dependent and how the males are independent and much more aggressive. Devor even shows us how the gender stereotypes are divided among today’s society. There are many examples of gender stereotypes in Carter’s story that go hand in hand with Devor’s statements. In Carter’s texts, there are examples of how the males act in a feminine way and how the females act in a masculine way.

Men are dogs. At least, that is what Angela Carter compares them to in her short story “The Company of Wolves.” In the story she sets up a village terrorized by vicious animals. The children carry knives when they leave the house, the farmers lock up their animals at night, and people lose loved ones. However, the villagers slowly begin to realize that the wolves they believed to be the culprits behind the bloodshed, are actually werewolves; men who turn into beasts. One young woman, completely innocent in life, meets a handsome boy in the woods on the way to her grandmother’s house. He is, of course, a wolf. The charming boy goes to her grandmother’s house and eats granny only to lie in wait for the young girl. She arrives, but instead of cowering in fear, the young girl throws her clothes into the fire and rips off the wolf’s, embracing him for a kiss and for the night. The two stay in bed until morning, together and calm. Through the uses of a rebellious and triumphant tone, symbolism, and repetition, Carter demonstrates that men are like beasts, but women can prevail by understanding the power in