Wolf Brother
Seminar
What effect do the power struggles (and who triumphs) in the text have on the construction of the child?
Some to consider:
The consequences of the actions of the Soul-Eaters to achieve more power on Torak and the Forest
Hord vs Torak on who will fight the bear (different models of hero here)
Renn vs Wolf over the path taken to the mountains (human vs animal)
What other power struggles exist?
Why is it emphasized that Torak is 'the Listener'? How do his skills and practices as a hunter contribute to the construction of a protagonist who is connected with and respects and is often at the mercy of nature?
In what ways is the Forest (and the landscape in general) given a subjectivity?
Think about Wolf and Torak's relationship.
The narrative is shared between these two. How does Wolf see the world differently? How is that expressed in language? Why is this done?
What language barriers are there between Wolf and Torak? How does it make you feel when these can not be overcome? What meaning is being created or what point is being made, do you think, by the inability to overcome this communication gap?
Why does Wolf join a pack at the end?
Consider the clans.
What kind of dynamics exist? How is it structured? What positives/negatives can modern day society learn from them?
What are their concerns, beliefs, superstitions? What role do stories, rituals and practices play in the text?
Torak is clanless, what implications does this have on his sense of self and identity?
Is being a part of a clan good/bad/both/neither?
Paver goes back to the Stone Age. Why?
Consider gender relations. How do they differ in comparison to the other texts studied in the module?
How is the Nordic ideal (Hord) presented and critiqued in the text?
How does Torak as a protagonist compare with the others we have looked at in the module? (Diamond, Jim, Peter Pan, Arriety, Arthur, Gwyna, and Todd & Viola)
Think about the idea of 'the chosen one' (big hint here), what other texts can you think of in which the protagonist has a destiny, in which fulfilment of a prophecy is part of a quest?
This is a quest narrative.. How does it differ from Arthur's quest in The Seeing Stone?
What does having a female, Renn, accompany the protagonist bring to the text?
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