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Never Cry Wolf By Farley Mowat
Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat For my book report, I have chosen the novel Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat. In this report I will give a brief summary of the novel as well as why I have chosen it for my report. Finally, I will give my reactions to the novel with regards to its analysis of the place of human beings in nature, whether the destiny of humans and nature is intertwined, and how nature is regarded by the different religious and political philosophies demonstrated in the novel. Never Cry Wolf is based upon the true story of the author's experiences during two years spent as a biologist studying a family of wolves in northern Canada during the mid nineteen fifties. When Mowat is sent on his expedition his goal is to bring back proof of the wolves decimating effect on the northern herds of Caribou. After arriving at the remote location, he finds a group of wolves and begins his research. He then discovers the differing peculiarities of the wolves and finds that they are more than the savage and merciless hunters that he had previously believed them to be. He discovers that they are in fact a very efficient and resourceful and have their own distinctive culture. For example he discovers that they in fact have a symbiotic relationship with the caribou in that they keep the caribou population strong by hunting down only the sick and weaker members of the herd. This leads to a situation where the strongest caribou survive and thus the herd is made stronger. As well they have their own social orders that ensure peaceful co-existence with one another instead of being reduced to fighting amongst themselves. Before Mowat's excursion conventional wisdom thought that that was the only interraction that the wolves were capable of. In his group he finds a monogamous pair who are raising their litter with assistance from another male wolf who Mowat terms to be an "uncle". His previous assumptions which portrayed the wolves as cold heated killers who lived only for the hunt, is challenged as he observes these animals play and interact within their environment his previous assumptions about the role that these animals play in nature. His attitude metamorphosis' from one of disdain and contempt to one of genuine respect and admiration. I chose this novel for study instead of Siddhartha because I felt that this novel speaks more directly to me. I felt this way firstly, because of the location of the novel, northern Canada, in which I traveled for a summer, and secondly because I enjoy spending time in the outdoors. This meant that I could more easily identify the setting and thus relate better to the author's feelings and perceptions. Meanwhile, Siddhartha was set in India and in my mind was dated and unreal humankind (society) seems today to have more of a desire and a need to get back to nature and the simple life. The spirit of peace that emanates from Mowat's book allows one to focus on what is possible when one has time to reflect In this I mean that Never Cry Wolf seemed to hold a more meaningful message for modern times. As well I found the style of writing in the Mowat novel to be clearer then in Siddhartha. These were some of the factors that combined to produce a situation where Never Cry Wolf captured my attention more than Siddhartha. It was for these reasons that I chose the novel by Farley Mowat. In my opinion, Never Cry Wolf placed humans in the role of intruders as far as nature is concerned. Mowat cites several instances where humans violate nature and represent a threat to its sanctity. Even though this threat is not reciprocated by nature, humans continue to infringe upon nature and then deny the consequences of their actions. Two prevalent examples of this occur: when Mowat accidentally wanders into the wolves den when the wolves' are there, and again when he discovers a herd of deer that have been slaughtered by hunters. Both examples show humans intruding upon nature and using it for their own purposes. In the first example Mowat decides ...This is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Electronic References. Please register below now! Get This Full Article After Registration
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