The She Wolf – Summary
Table of Contents
Barbara Walker was an American author and feminist. She uses imagery of the Mother Godesses and writes about the societal issues with traditional religion and how such issues led to sexism and patriarchal culture. The Mary Fisher Clinical AIDS Research and Education (CARE) Fund, a non-profit dedicated to supporting HIV/AIDS research and education, was founded by her. She has served as a global emissary for UNAIDS (the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) since May 2006.
Barbara Walker, a British artist depicted the spirituality of a She-wolf, who was praised far back in Europe. Her work “The She wolf” beautifully showed a small family of poor widower who Lived with his daughter Lupa. They had land which hardly produced enough food or them to survive. They had a cow that provided them with milk, butter, and cheese, but one day the cow died too. They did not have money to buy another cow or even a chicken, so they preserved the cow’s meat for nourishment. The poor man’s late wife was a needlewoman who left some beautiful tapestries when she died. They had no choice other than to sell it.
The next morning Lupa went out to sell the tapestries in town. Along her way, she met a thunderstorm and had no shelter and when the rain stopped, she found that all the colors were mixed as her mother could not afford colorfast dyes- everything was ruined. Lupa sat down when she heard a cry and found a yellow-eyed ‘She wolf’ which was trapped. She opened the jaws and helped the wolf. She thanked Lupa and asked how to repay her kindness. Lupa told the wolf, her whole troubles from the cow’s death to the spoiled tapestries. The wolf assured Lupa not to worry and disappeared into the forest with her bandaged leg.
Lupa buried the tapestries and Went home. She lied to her father by saying that she had sold the tapestries and was robbed on her way. She did not want her father to know the truth.
They went to bed on empty stomachs. The next morning Lupa’s father opened the door and found a complete hauch of freshly killed deer lying there. Both father and daughter had a satisfying breakfast after a long time.
The next day, the king’s guardsmen came to their doorstep and accused them of poaching. They followed a blood trail and arrested them despite listening to their explanation. They were brought into the king’s chamber where the king and queen sat with other officials.
Lupa’s father pleaded and explained to the king but he announced execution as their penalty. The queen stopped the king and declared that she would make the two of them her servants. Lupa noticed her yellow eyes. Lupa and her father thanked the queen in her quarters. The queen then rolled up her sleeves and showed the bandage that Lupa had put on the wolf’s wound. Lupa was amazed after knowing the truth. She declared Lupa as has handmaid and her father as a royal gardener. They both lived happily ever after. They had never returned to their poor hut and were faithful to the queen.
Lupa dug up her mother’s tapestries and made them copy by the most expert needlewoman. The resultant was known far by Lupine Tapestries and kept in the National Museum.
People used to say that sometimes on moonless nights, Lupa and her father accompanied the wild wolves. This was one of the incidences how wolf worship was traced in Europe. As a dog lover can you imagine something such scary?
The She Wolf – Themes
Compassion and Kindness:
The theme of kindness and compassion is the core of the story. Lupa demonstrates her natural kindness and compassion for other living things through her act of releasing the bound she-wolf and caring to its wounds. She shows that compassion has no bounds by assisting the suffering animal despite her own difficult situation. This subject emphasises the value of showing kindness to people, regardless of their race or socioeconomic status, and how doing so can have unexpected beneficial effects which was depicted in the later part of story that the she wolf was the queen who helped Lupa and her father with a better life.
Sacrificial Love:
An emotional demonstration of Lupa’s love for her father can be seen in her sacrifice of the beautiful tapestries her late mother created. Since the tapestries served as a constant reminder of her mother’s talent and affection, they were of sentimental importance. Lupa, on the other hand, makes no hesitation in choosing to protect her father’s health over conserving the tapestries. The extent of her love and sense of duty to her father’s pleasure and welfare are demonstrated by this sacrifice.
Protection and Selflessness:
Lupa showed her selflessness by choosing to fake the tapestries’ robbery. By deciding to take on the responsibility of the circumstance herself, she tries to shield her father from disappointment and hurt. This compassionate deed and willingness to put up with possible repercussions for her father’s sake highlights the strong link between parent and kid.
Rewards of Good Deeds:
The tale serves as an example of how doing nice things frequently results in happy endings. Lupa and her father are spared from execution and given a place of honour in the royal household as a result of Lupa’s selfless gesture of rescuing the she-wolf and seeing to its wounds. This theme implies that deeds of compassion can have a wide range of affects and may have unexpected outcomes.
Nature and the Supernatural:
The narrative introduces ideas of spirituality and a connection to nature while hiding the lines between the natural and supernatural worlds. The existence of a talking she-wolf with supernatural abilities casts doubt on the natural world as we know it. The she-wolf’s relationship with Lupa and her family symbolises a closer connection between human and animal existence, indicating that the natural and supernatural worlds can coexist and interact in strange ways.