The Wolf and the Lamb Joseph Jacobs
Characters: The Wolf, the Lamb
The first character is a lamb. A lamb is usually seen as cute and innocent, often used as a sacrifice in many cultures. I think the author used a lamb in this story because he wanted to draw heat onto the Wolf character. Because lambs are seen as innocent, the reader may believe that the lamb did not deserve to be eaten. However, this lamb had the audacity to drink right next to a wolf, then talk back to the wolf as if the wolf could not eat the lamb. The lamb put itself into a dangerous situation and got surprised when the situation ended in its death.
The second character is the Wolf. Wolves are seen as evil animals most of the time, and they are associated with danger and ferocity. For some reason, the wolf needed a reason to eat the lamb rather than just outright eat the lamb, for the wolf is clearly not a monster. His conscience would not allow him to eat the lamb without a reason. So, the wolf made up reasons to justify his appetite. I believe the author used a wolf as the evil character in this story to cause a lack of sympathy for the wolf from the reader. The wolf in this story is very driven. He set his mind on something and accomplished it, so kudos to him.
I think the theme of this story can be seen in everybody's lives because we always seem to justify our actions, even when the justification is false. The justification makes us feel better about ourselves. The closing line of the story, "Any excuse will serve a tyrant," is interesting because when we think of tyrants, we think of powerful leaders who are evil. However, sometimes we, as humans, express tyrannical behavior without acknowledging doing so. Even when we acknowledge our evil behavior, we justify it, similarly to the wolf, so that our evil behavior becomes acceptable in our own eyes.
Characters: The Wolf, the Lamb
The first character is a lamb. A lamb is usually seen as cute and innocent, often used as a sacrifice in many cultures. I think the author used a lamb in this story because he wanted to draw heat onto the Wolf character. Because lambs are seen as innocent, the reader may believe that the lamb did not deserve to be eaten. However, this lamb had the audacity to drink right next to a wolf, then talk back to the wolf as if the wolf could not eat the lamb. The lamb put itself into a dangerous situation and got surprised when the situation ended in its death.
The second character is the Wolf. Wolves are seen as evil animals most of the time, and they are associated with danger and ferocity. For some reason, the wolf needed a reason to eat the lamb rather than just outright eat the lamb, for the wolf is clearly not a monster. His conscience would not allow him to eat the lamb without a reason. So, the wolf made up reasons to justify his appetite. I believe the author used a wolf as the evil character in this story to cause a lack of sympathy for the wolf from the reader. The wolf in this story is very driven. He set his mind on something and accomplished it, so kudos to him.
I think the theme of this story can be seen in everybody's lives because we always seem to justify our actions, even when the justification is false. The justification makes us feel better about ourselves. The closing line of the story, "Any excuse will serve a tyrant," is interesting because when we think of tyrants, we think of powerful leaders who are evil. However, sometimes we, as humans, express tyrannical behavior without acknowledging doing so. Even when we acknowledge our evil behavior, we justify it, similarly to the wolf, so that our evil behavior becomes acceptable in our own eyes.
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| Eurasian Wolf (Wikimedia) |
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