“The Wife’s Story”

Comprehension & Analysis Questions

1. The diction of the narrator, the wolf wife, resembles that of someone living
in the country. This is one quality of the story’s narration that disguises the
identity of the narrator as an animal. Below, list some of the phrases from the
story that lead the reader to believe that the narrator is a human woman living
in the country. One example is done for you.

“. . . he was over here pretty near all the time”

“And my sister said — see, my parents had moved out the year before and
gone south,” “I couldn’t ever have got through this bad time without my sis.”
“But I’d be so sleepy, and not wanting to wake the kids,” “He was a good
husband, a good father. I don’t understand it. I don’t believe in it. I don’t
believe that it happened.” “A hard worker and never lazy,” “and think that
any young fellow that was that nice with his family must be one worth
knowing.”

2. At the beginning of the story, the wife creates a picture of her husband as an
ideal mate (characterization). This picture helps set the stage for the
surprising revelation at the end of the story. List the qualities of the husband
that the wife admires during the first months of their courtship and marriage.
The wife admired her husband that he never got irritated or took it complicated
as when he was looking for something, but always in a good mood. She
appreciated even that he was a tough, not lazy worker.

3. Le Guin uses a great deal of foreshadowing early in the story to indicate

that something tragic will occur. List pieces of foreshadowing from the story
that help to create this foreboding.

“ Something comes over the one that’s got the curse in his blood, they say,
and he gets up because he can’t sleep, and goes out into the glaring sun, and
goes off all alone — drawn to find those like him. And it may be so, because
my husband would do that.” “I’ll never know a joy like that again.” “I was
frightened too. Frightened to shaking.” " He was a good husband, a good
father. I don’t understand it. I don’t believe in it. I don’t believe that it
happened. I saw it happen but it isn’t true. It can’t be.”

4. Hindsight is when a person realizes something after an event or after

reading a story that he or she could have picked up on earlier. A) List three
things the wife could have realized about her husband if she were paying
closer attention.

Other wolves told her that something in the blood of her husband was
making him different but she was not listening. She didn't offer any meaning
to another example is how she decided to change her mentality. Finally if
she had began to panic, she should have done something and in fact, she
should know that while her daughter was in fear of him, something was
wrong.

B) What role did hindsight have in the story?

The author wrote the story in retrospect. It helps us to realize that the story is
a kind of a recollection for the story-teller. When the plot goes on, we see
that the narrator tells us about her husband or the manner in which he began
to behave, because she gave no care or care to what people told her about
his sudden behavior.

5. How do the moon and the sun function as symbols in the story? Provide
two or three examples as evidence of your claims.

As part of the curse are the light and the moon. The narrative relates the story
of how "he" had alerted her who her husband was. He said it was the
responsibility of the moon when doing so. The storyteller speaks about the link
between blood of her husband and the sky. It also explains how someone who
has the curse on his or her blood can't sleep and goes out to "the light" to
meet anyone like him.

6. This story has a significant emotional crisis/conflict and a brutal physical

climax. A) Define the crisis/conflict and the climax of the story.

The crisis / conflict is when the husband began to behave oddly. He 's
identified at first as a lovely "guy." The husband appears to behave oddly as
the plot goes on. And his daughter is scared of him. his mood swings and his
actions. After that we hit the climax, where the writer stares at the turn of her
husband and we know that the husband is a waswolf and the wife a wolf.

B) Explain how the author uses suspense to lead to both of these plot events.

The author uses anticipation to predict that something terrible is going to

happen to all of these cases. We see foreshadows from the very beginning of
the plot. This helps us to know if her husband is going to be involved. When
the plot develops, the author again takes advantage of foreshadows and
creates anticipation by explaining the man's attitude and curse change. The
protagonist goes on suspending by arguing about the actions of the women
until we inevitably hit the point of conclusion where the women has his wife
turned into a man and we learn that the woman was a wool and the wife was a
wolf all along.

7. Examine the setting: (place and time) of the story and explain its
importance. Identify five things about the setting's place and the setting’s time
that are revealed in the text. Include quotes and page numbers.

We are all conscious in the story that they live in a very rural setting since the
husband goes to the woods multiple times throughout the book, as on page
1(1). “Then one time when I was walking in the woods I met him by himself
coming back from a hunting trip.” Once in the forest, the story takes place
mainly in the home of the wife. he came here to work...." says the writer on
Page 1(2). We also know that the plot takes place mostly in the night, as on
the second paragraph of page 1, a narrator speaks about his husband's
encounter with his husband at “Lodge Meeting nights, more and more often
they had him to lead the singing.” “the singing coming up through the trees
there, and the moonlight, summer nights, the full moon shining.” In the quote
“and he gets up because he can’t sleep, and goes out into the glaring sun, and
goes off all alone” on page 1 paragraph 3 we would presume that people from
this location can sleep through the day because whenever the husband is
going out of the house and the wife is going to sleep, it is daytime. We realize
that the climax of the story is outside the home of the woman in the day
because of the quotation “I went out into the passage, and it was light there,
hard sunlight coming in from the door. And I saw him standing just outside, in
the tall grass by the entrance.” which is when the wife sees him turn and when
the wolves kill him.

8. Reflection is when the voice of the narrator appears in the text and makes
comments AFTER the event about what he or she felt, thought, or realized.
Discuss the narrator’s reflections and provide three things she reflects upon.
Include the actual quotes/words and their page numbers in your discussion.

In the first line of the first page the narrator states that "Without my sis I could
never have done this rough day." This reflexion we know that afterwards
something bad is going to happen and that his girlfriend is there for her and
saves her in the hard times. The narrator has another reflection on the same
page on paragraph 4, 'But it wasn't my turn to inquire, 'Why would I be sleepy
and wouldn't wake the baby, when he was so sweet when responsible?
"Where?" And "And so on." She allows us realize with this contemplation that
she was trusting in her husband and even though it was strange of him to do
so, she felt like she had nothing to say.

9. The point of view of a story is developed by the person who is telling the
story. This narrative tricks the reader because it has a secretive point of view
that is not fully revealed until halfway through the telling. How does the narrator’s
point of view make a significant impact on your understanding of the story in
these two ways: 1) as you were reading the story in class, and 2) now that the
story is over and the narrator is revealed.

I assumed that her husband was a werewolf or a demon because I didn't really
understand what was going on with the narrator 's opinions when I read the story
on the basis of what was happening. Still I understood the tale better when the
narrator announced she is a wolf actually. I thought she was a wolf. After I
thought that she was a wolf, I could see why she was heading into the bright
sun, why the narrator was talking about the full moon and that the husband
would quit hunting for a wife, even though it was daytime.

10. This story is all about the reader’s perception. How did your own reading
skills and perceptive abilities affect your understanding of the plot, the
characters and their relationship? What role did close reading and putting
together context clues play in your experience of the story?
I think that with qualitative indications and attention to all the little things, I
might come together and better appreciate the plot. I was able to conclude
that the story is a wolf 's experience with her husband, and that he then
turns out to be a wolf and dies. I have used my understanding skills and
observation ability along with conceptual signs and paid attention to specific
information.

11. Situational irony is when the reader expects one thing to be true, but finds
another thing to be the case. What role did situational irony play in this story?

Situational irony has a major role in the story. We knew something could
happen something horrible, we just didn't know what. If the tale unfolds, we
see that the husband turns peculiar and the writer speaks of a spell implying
that the man is something mysterious. When we finish it, we know that the wife
and every other character in the story are Wolves and that the husband is a
Wolf, so he was harmful to the Wolves, so that the Wolves would kill him.