Monday, December 12, 2011

Wolves

Wolves are commonly portrayed as the antagonists in fairy tales.  The term "the Big Bad Wolf" is so commonly known, many movies and even songs have been named after those exact four words.  Ah, wolves.  Poor Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother got swallowed by one.  Many poor defenseless sheep have falled prey to their voracious appetites (esp. in Aesop's fables).  And please, don't even get me started about the Three Little Pigs.

But are wolves really all that bad?  Surely everyone has heard of the 1989 children's book, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, among other inversions of the famous tale.  But really, isn't it a bit unfair that only wolves are being delineated in such a negative manner?  In real life, wolves are loyal pack animals.  In fairy tales, they're evil, lonesome villains that froth at the mouth at the mere sight of a tasty treat.

So what do you guys think?  Why are wolves considered to be such terrible personalities in mythical tales?  (Extra:  Consider the werewolf in popular culture; why the werewolf?  Why not some other animal?)
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7 comments:

  1. RoseDecember 12, 2011 at 11:26 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. RoseDecember 12, 2011 at 11:27 PM

    Wolves are very nice! My grandmother has a pet wolf before and she was the nicest pet my grandmother ever had! I think wolves are considered a violence maybe because there were many wolves that attack the village back in their time?

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  3. Ruvini A.December 13, 2011 at 7:30 PM

    I have to say, wolves aren't at all what fairy tales portray them as, and I think that you explained that well :). Now to answer the question, probably the appearance of the wolf contributes to its role in most fairy tales, as most kids are frightened at such an ugly and horrid creature (big, sharp teeth, long claws, etc.). However, if you think about it, most wild animals fit that description- bears, lions, eagles- so why wolves?
    Now that you have brought up this question, I actually can't think of any reasons why the authors of fairy tales chose wolves, out of all of the other "scary" animals(LOL)!! I can only conclude that it was out of random choice...

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  4. Happyyi008December 13, 2011 at 10:34 PM

    I agree with Rose. The stories portray wolves as villains because some wolves probably killed a child or an animal from a village, and therefore forever branded as dangerous animals.

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  5. RoseDecember 13, 2011 at 11:04 PM

    oh oh maybe they also use wolf to scared little children to prevent them from going outside or to the forest at night?

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  6. AlexDecember 25, 2011 at 6:08 PM

    wolvesw are awesome and
    OMG I can comment on this blog.
    Horary
    YEA I know that it's with 2 r""

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  7. AlexJanuary 1, 2012 at 10:13 PM

    wolves aren't that bad
    I really think PIGS are EVIL
    We should not judge abook by it's cover.

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