Comments on American Werewolf

I enjoyed playing upon the theme set forth in the Bible's book of Matthew and the fable commonly attributed to Aesop in his compilation of stories. The theme is described as a 'wolf in sheep's clothes' or more literally a danger disguised in the benign.

In the Bible's rendition, the 'wolf' is a nefarious evil-doer, a false prophet, who dons a disguise of benevolence to fool the unwary. I enjoyed the concept of deception that the book describes, however, I began to wonder the exact methodology of that deception. 'American Werewolf' supposes to examine deception by evoking strong literary images coupled with striking verse.

The poem starts with a quasi-proclamation set to mimic a town crier's supposed cries of warning. Although the danger has been perceived, there is still a tense air of suspense because the wolf is in fact disguised and yet to be truly discovered.

So begins the wolf hunt. People begin to guess at who the 'wolf' really is and proceed looking for his hallmark traits: guile, power, attraction. These three qualities of the wolf are both integral to the wolf as a creature and the persona created for him by myth. Most notably is attraction, an attribute given to the wolf during the paranoia of the Victorian era which aided men in their pursuits of 'beasts' by rousing their jealousies and vainglory.

In this version, the wolf's power of attraction is two-fold, it works by playing upon the two methods of control; fear and love. A common occurance in human history is the shepherding of individuals and groups of people by manipulating their fears, and then again manipulating others through the seduction of promised power, usually in the form of wealth and the ability of coercion. That is the most important part, the true danger is not an outside threat, but what that fear can create in us. It is true that all people harbor secret desires and wear facades, however, what matters is not allowing fear and vulnerability tempt us to self-destruction.