Our Fear of Wolves :: essays research papers fc

Our Fear of Wolves Wolf! What is the first thought that enters one’s mind upon the utterance of that word? More than likely it is the image of a hairy, razor-sharp toothed beast awaiting the thrill of its next merciless kill. Unfortunately, this stereotypical image has been embalmed within the human psyche of the Western civilization for hundreds of years. Most have never even seen a wolf, yet human’s fear of the animal is seemingly as natural as being afraid of the dark. Might these fears be caused by the mind’s interpretation of the literature and stories that have been told over the centuries? For hundreds of years, the wolf has been greatly mischaracterized and it is time to put these out-dated notions to rest.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Writings depicting wolves as evil creatures are present in every era of history and began very long ago. As far back as 500 BC, the Greek fabulist Aesop often used wolves as characters in his short stories that are today known as Aesop’s Fables. Colette Palamar, a researcher at the University of Idaho, indicates that the animal characters in the fables symbolically represent different values and attitudes, and Aesop uses them to deliver some type of ethical advice or moral (1). Unfortunately for the wolf, â€Å"In Aesop’s fables, we saw the wolf portrayed as a wild, boundless animal who is a conniving, tricky, sneaky thief and killer† (Palamar 3). Although the intent of his stories was to give people ethical advice, his goal was achieved at the expense of the wolf’s reputation and influenced people to believe that wolves were horrible creatures. The way that the wolf is portrayed in mythology and fairy tales effected people’s impression of the animals. R.D. Lawerence points out how Germanic Norse mythology tells the story an enormous wolf named Fenris, who was the first son of the satanic overlord Loki (122). The legend of Fenris states that, â€Å"[he] was so large that when he opened his mouth his jaws stretched from earth to heaven†(Todd 1). As the legend goes, he â€Å"devoured several hundred people before the gods were able to chain him.†(Lawerence 122) This 1000-year-old German legend tells us that the wolf eats people mercilessly and is a satanic offspring of the devil. Take also into consideration the widely popular fairy tale â€Å"Little Red Riding Hood.† R.D. Lawerence states that, â€Å"The story of Little Red Riding Hood perpetuates a number of myths about wolves†(120).