Questions about The company of wolves, by Angela Carter

1. What kind of fictional world does carter construct in the story?

Where are we? When is it set?

Carter constructs a surreal fantasy-horror world, filled with metaphors and

similes in which the werewolves represent puberty, masculinity and sexual
awakening. The company of wolves takes place in a forested, mountainous
country in the dead of winter. The main story starts on Christmas Eve, but
since the hypo text is an oral tal pro the mid to lat 1800s, the we can safely
assume this is set at the same time.

2. How does the story begin and how does it end? What is the conflict
of the story? Is the ending open or closed, that is, does it end with
everything resolved or does it leave the reader with ideas
unresolved, ambiguities or with anything to reflect upon?
The story begins with tales of how werewolves have done harm to local
villages and families and the mystical nature of the creatures. Then the main
story is introduced: A girl is going to deliver a basket of gifts to her old, dying
Granny on Christmas Eve, taking a carving knife with her for protection, just
in case. The conflict begins when the girl is on her way to her grandmothers
cottage, and the wolf appears to her disguised as a handsome huntsman.
After accompanying her part of the way through the wood, the wolf-man
makes a bet with the girl: that by using his compass he can navigate the
perilous forest and arrive at the cottage before her. His prize would be a
kiss. She agrees. The ending remains somewhat open. Sweet and sound
she sleeps between the paws of the tender wolf. The first thing to be
thought is Did she manage to escape? If so, how did she do it? Did she
really want to escape? It also leaves us with the ambiguity of the title related
to ending. The company of wolves- Does it refer to the wolf and his flock of
brothers howling outside the house? Does it refer to the fact that the girl
slept with a wolf? Will he be her companion forever?

3. What is the purpose of the stories within the main story? How do
they link with the primary narrative of the girl and the wold?
The stories show us a few examples of attacks on the people, quickly
introducing the concept of werewolves. A few of these tales are enough to wet
out appetite, and cast a satisfying air of foreboding as we reach the main story.
In one of the stories, for example, the transformation from man to wolf is
associated with the wedding night- another connection between the loss of

virginity and metamorphosis. Another example is that the stories show us that
people are aware of the dangers of the forest, which can be associated to the
fact that the girl carries a knife with her.

4. Whats is the effect of the use of second person narrative voice?

It changes the pace of the anecdote. Occasionally characters will speak through
the narrator, their dialogue not marked with conventional speech punctuation.
This often happens with the language refrains of fairy tales, such as What big
eyes you have and other familiar fairy-tale elements. This device implies that
the words are the inner thoughts of the character, something that happens
naturally when stories are verbally exchanged and read aloud. They are
allusions that assume a shared understanding of the storytelling conventions of
fairy tales.

5. Identify at least five phrases used to describe the wolf. Make sure
they include examples of physical appearance, simile, metaphor,
connotative lexis. For each one comment upon its connotations and
its effect.
You can tell the by their eyes, eyes of a beast of prey, nocturnal, devastating
eyes as a red as a wound It gives us a sense of darkness, death and the
blood that wiil be shed within seconds.
His feral muzzle is sharp as a knife. It evokes the idea of tdeath, while
showing us how the werewolves muzzles can be lethal.
His skin is the texture and color of vellum Vellum is generally smooth and
durable. It can be stained virtually any color but seldom is, as a great part of its
beauty and appeal rests in its faint grain and hair markings, as well as its
warmth and simplicity. It shows us the beauty and durability of the wolfs skin.
He is so thin you could count the ribs under the skin It leads us to the
beginning of the story, when the narrator says that all the animal ar locked up,
or departed to another place because of the winter. So the wolves are in
completely famished.
His genitals, huge. Ah! Huge. The author mentions the werewolfs genitals
just before he kills the grandmother, associating sex with violence.

6. How does Carter present the girl? How does she compare with the
traditional representations of LRRH with which you are familiar?
Identify key words and images which construct the character of the
girl. Find examples of how the girl is presented as: a) strong,
independent and confident; b) on the verge of sexual maturity.

a) She has her knife and she is afraid of nothing., The girl burst out
laughing; she knew was nobodys meat. She laughed at him full in the
face,

b) knitted her the red shawl that, today , has the ominous if brilliant
look of blood on snow. Her breasts have just begun to swell; her hair
is like lint, so fair it hardly makes a shadow on her pale forehead; her
cheeks are an emblematic scarlet and white and she has just started
her womans bleeding...
The girl is now portrayed as a teenager, and is a lot wiser than the little
girl she is usually described as. Her innocence was shattered as a young
child having grown up in such a terrible, wolf-ridden land, so she carries
a knife and uses her virginity as a bartering tool. She is described as
being in that period when a girl become a woman. She gives the wolf the
kiss, she owes him, the power has shifted, and the young girl-turnedwoman trusts in her woman powerful sexually for protection.

7. Comment on how Carter uses the colors red and white in this story.
Find examples of alliterations and comment on their effect in the
story.
The red cloak of Little Red Riding Hood is explicitly connected to the blood
of menstruation and the loss of virginity, as the heroine is on the threshold
between child and woman. the red shawl that, today, has the ominous if
brilliant look of blood on snow. White, a inherently positive color, is
associated with purity, virginity, innocence, light, goodness. Her cheeks are
an emblematic scarlet and white she has just started her womans bleeding.

8. How does carter present the characters of the wolf and the girl? Try
to fin examples of the following techniques: i) the direct description
of the characters by narrator: identify specific examples of lexis and
imagery;
ii) What the characters say;
iii) What they do;
iv) The relationship between the characters;
v) The way the characters develop or change in the narrative
vi) How they compare and contrast with traditional images of the
wolf and the girl in the LRRH story

vii) How they can be seen as images of masculinity and femininity

i)

Girl: this strong-minded child, this one, so pretty, the youngest of

her family,a little late comer, she has just started her womans
bleeding, Her breasts have just begun to swell etc

Wolf: Hairy knuckles, eyes of a beast of prey, nocturnal,

devastating eyes as a red as a wound, His feral is a muzzle is sharp
as a knife, his matted hair, His skin is the color and texture of
vellum, crisp stripe of hair runs down his belly, his nipples are ripe
and dark as poison fruit, hes so thin you could count the ribs under
hir skin, how hairy his legs are, His genitals, huge. Ah! Huge.

ii)

What big eyes you have (girl) All the better to see you with.
(Wolf)

iii)

She bundled up her shawl and threw it on the blaze. (Girl)

When he had finished with her, he licked his chops and
quickly dressed himself again.

iv)

Soon they were laughing and joking like old friends.,

Commonplaces of a rustic seduction; she lowered her eyes
and blushed. See! Sweet and sound she sleeps in grannys
bed, between the paws of the tender wolf.

v)

Her breasts have just begun to swell, She has just started
her womans bleeding, the clock inside her that will strike,
henceforward, once a month (Girl)
He strips off his shirt. His skin is the color and texture of
vellum. A crisp stripe of hair runs down his belly, his nipples are
ripe and dark as poison fruit be hes so thin you could count
the ribs under the skin if only he gave you the time. He strips
off his trousers and she can see how hairy his legs are. His
genitals, huge. (wolf)

vi)

All the better to eat you with. The girl burst out laughing; she
knew she was nobodys meat. She laughed at him full in the
face, she ripped off his shirt for him and flung it into the fire, in
the fiery wake of her own discarded clothing.

She will lay his fearful head on her lap and she will pick out
the lice from his pelt and perhaps she will put the lice into her
mouth and eat them, as he will bid her, as she would do in a
savage marriage ceremony.
vii)

She has just started her womans bleeding, her breasts have
just begun to swell, The flaxen haired girl (girl)
His genitals, huge. Ah! Huge! (Wolf)