The Werewolf by Angela Carter: How Bad Can Everything Get?

Please bear in mind that this article contains spoilers for the short story named The Werewolf. With the most important part of The Werewolf being the ending, which is talked about in this article, it is advised to read the story before reading the article.

Surely, there are many versions of Red Riding Hood. The story has been told from generation to generation many times and became so well-known that there emerged different versions of the story. These differences affected the ending the most. Besides the ending where a hunter helps Red Riding Hood save her grandma by killing the wolf and making the grandma come out of his stomach, there are versions in which the wolf eats Red Riding Hood or one in which the hunter cannot help the grandma but saves Red Riding Hood.

The Summary

The Werewolf is basically a retold version of Red Riding Hood. The story has gothic elements and is a great piece of this genre. Yet, in my opinion, what makes the story amazing is its ending. At first, the story follows the events of The Red Riding Hood, with a little girl visiting her grandma. The difference starts when the little girl is in the middle of her journey to get to her grandma's house. A wolf attacks her, and she defends herself with a knife, cutting the paw of the wolf. She keeps the paw inside a cloth piece. Then she visits her grandma, who is pretty ill. She wants to use the cloth as a cold compress. Yet, inside the cloth, there was the paw of the wolf. But as she realizes, it is no longer a paw. It is a hand. And she realizes that her grandma is missing a hand. The little girl screams, and those who live near her hear her cries. They beat the grandma up until she died, and the little girl started living in her grandma's old house.

Analysis

This story is an example of how bad Little Red Riding Hood can be. It is the version where everything goes wrong. The scenes are graphic and actually pretty creepy. Another important thing about the story that makes it so striking is the fact that you've heard it before. You know the original story, probably read or heard a few different variations. Yet, this story is much different than the original, even if it has many similarities you can spot. This story is not targeted at kids, it is not a fairy tale. The story of Red Riding Hood might be pretty scary for kids, depending on the variation, but this story is not only scary for kids. Even for adults, it is pretty eerie. Knowing the original story makes the story much more terrifying, in my opinion. You know what should happen, but it never does. You cannot change the story. You cannot prevent the events from happening. In a way, you feel incapable, and this makes The Werewolf what it is: A creepy must-read where everything goes wrong.