Fifty Shades of Red

“What big eyes you have, the kind of eyes that drive wolves mad.

So just to see that you don't get chased I think I ought to walk with you for a ways.

What full lips you have, they're sure to lure someone bad.

So until you get to grandma's place I think you ought to walk with me and be safe.

 I'm gonna keep my sheep suit on until I'm sure that you've been shown that I can be trusted walking with you alone.”

You may recognize these lyrics from Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs, circa 1966. I will never forget the first time I heard this song. I was riding shotgun in my father’s Ford Maverick when he let out an ear-rattling howl… My dad has the best “Ooooooowwww” you can imagine! It did not occur to me, at the time, to question the lyrics I heard. In retrospect, I question many of the songs that my parents allowed me to sing as a child, but that is an entirely different post (and therapy session). I mention these lyrics because of the strong parallel to the message conveyed in Angela Carter’s “The Werewolf.”

 The relationship between the child and her grandmother is not detailed in the story, but one can assume that it was amiable. After all, the kid was delivering a “get well soon” package; so it stands to reason that she liked her grandmother enough to exercise empathy. Now, with that being said, I am going out on a limb with my presumed audience of this text…

The message of this tale likens Perrault’s version of LRRH; it sends a strong message about trust. We assume that our family and friends have our best interest at heart; however, that may not always be the case. Unfortunately, the ones that we trust are oftentimes the ones who hurt us the most deeply.

With that being said, I would like to draw attention to the fact that the girl was wearing, “a scabby coat of sheepskin…” Of all the skin in all the world, why sheep? Is she a wolf in sheep’s clothing, perhaps? I mean, the kid, “lived in her grandmother’s house,” and “prospered” from her grandmother’s death. My grandmother has been dead for nearly three years, and I have yet to enter her home. I certainly could not live there! Was she fully aware of her shape-shifting grandmother? Did she “cry wolf” and turn the village against her grandmother with the whole “witch’s nipple” business? Think about it, whose story do we tend to believe? If your answer is, “The one we hear first,” then you and I are on the same page.

I realize that I am stretching a bit here, but I feel like the audience of this tale may be the person who plays victim to the tragedy he creates. I am reminded of the girl who gets on Facebook and posts, “I hate my life this is the worst day ever!” (Insert sad emoji and depressing hashtag) then gets offended when someone asks what’s wrong. Are you following me? I feel as though the message in “The Werewolf” is that there are no victims. The wolf/grandmother tried to teach the girl a lesson and got killed. The girl protected herself from the wolf and cut her grandmother’s hand off. People make decisions that oftentimes lead to detriment. Some women get led astray by “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” Some women walk around in their red fishnets acting oblivious to the wolves they are attracting. Some people follow the path their entire lives and still encounter tragedy. Some people forge their own paths and never feel the slightest speed bump.

This lesson, in my opinion is more applicable to today’s audience. In many ways, we are a cut-throat society. We are taught to get rid of people who get in our way. If that means offing Grandma then so be it. Kill or be killed, right? We are a society of victims who protest rights that have not been violated and destroy out of fear of destruction. The line between predator and prey has been very blurred… just like in “The Werewolf”