Review for "The Gray Wolf" by George MacDonald

This review is for "The Gray Wolf" by George MacDonald. 

First published in 1871 as a part of the Works of Fancy and Imagination collection. If you haven't read this, here's a link to read it online. https://fullreads.com/literature/the-gray-wolf/

Summary
A male student wanders away from his group and winds up on a small island in the Shetland island region Northeast of Scotland. Clearly lost, he finds a cave and then meets a woman in the shadows. She tells him that her mother can offer him shelter for the night at their cabin. He joins them for dinner and the woman stares at him. He notices that she looks at him hungrily and she stops to leave the cabin. She comes back later looking better than before she left. The man then has a drink of alcohol with the lady. He thinks he sees the woman's face begin to transform but claims it's just the whiskey playing tricks on his mind. The woman then leaves the house again. Later the man lays down to go to sleep when he hears the sound of dog feet at the front door. He turns around to look, but only sees the woman entering the house. He watches her lay down on the bench and starts to close his eyes when he thinks he sees the feet of a giant dog at the foot of the table. Again the woman leaves the house and he falls asleep.

Later he wakes up to a wolf trying to kill him. He fights back by choking the beast and stabbing it in the arm. The wolf leaves and the man decides to stay awake through the night. In the morning the mother tells him her daughter is still asleep. A bit later the daughter walks into the house and the man notices that she has wounds on her arm and her neck is covered up. The mother tells the man that he needs to leave and the woman continues to stare at him. The mother goes to attack her daughter, the man intervenes and notices the handprint marks on the woman's neck. In shock that he has figured out what was going on, he runs out of the house. He looks back to find the mother dead and the wolf chasing him. He continues to run and passed the cave. When he stops again he looks back he sees the woman standing there doing nothing but letting him escape.

Analysis
The story takes place on the Shetland islands, which are fairly remote. We are told the man is a student and has been separated from his companions. But what was he doing on the island to begin with and how did he get lost? The island could represent the isolation that the woman must live in to ensure that she does not harm other people.

In the cave the man steps on the bones of dead animals just before meeting the woman. It can be inferred that the wolf is the one that killed the animals. Does that mean upon seeing the man, she changed back into a woman? Or did she just wake up as a woman when she heard the man stirring about in the cave? Perhaps this is the cave that she goes to whenever she leaves the house. It's also never made clear if the mother knows about her daughter's condition.

The occurrences in which the woman transforms into the wolf seem to be uncontrolled and random. However, she also shows restraint and sorrow for her actions. When the wolf inside of her gets hungry the woman leaves the cabin and returns later. This suggests that she went to feed her inner beast. Perhaps she can sense when she is about to transform but cannot fully control it. It appears that she does not want to hurt the man. When he leaves he looks back presumably to find the wolf chasing him, but instead sees the woman watching him leave. 

 

At the end of the story the woman he is being chased by the wolf one minute, then briefly comforting the crying woman the next. Only to be chased by the wolf again. It's almost as if the woman was able to break away from the wolf long enough to try and tell him she was sorry. If there is any journey for the two characters then the ending is where it culminates. However, there is not enough development in either character to suggest that anything has really changed or that they have learned anything significant. It makes it hard to find the theme of the story. 

Thoughts
So in my text book, this story is listed under the category of "High Fantasy", which I find to be odd. The story contains elements that are more similar to dark fantasy. The dark isolated setting and misunderstood magic. That's why I've included it in my dark fantasy reviews.

The story can be seen as a role reversal of the classic Red Riding Hood fairy tale. Instead of the girl being the victim, she is the wolf and the man is food. When first reading this story, it did remind me of Red Riding hood but the version from the television show, Once Upon A Time. For those that have seen that show, you will know what I am talking about.

The term bewitched is used to describe the effect the girl has on the wanderer. Could that be a literal witching? Is this a way of saying there is a magical reason for her turning into a wolf? There are several questions that the story raises but never quite answers. There is no reason given for the woman turning into a wolf and it's never clear how much control she has over it. What's her connection to the man? Does she not want to eat him because she likes him, or just because she does not want to harm any living person? The story almost suggests it's the former idea but never states it.

While I do enjoy reading this story, it does have a lot of problems and plot holes that are annoying. However if you are a fan of wolf transformation tales then give this one a try and see what you can get out of it. If there is anything that I didn't catch that you did please share your thoughts in the comments below. Or if you have any feedback about my blog in general please let me know. If you like this blog then share it on social media. You can follow me and tweet me @BelleArboreus on Twitter.