Language

Choice of words

The language used in “The Werewolf” by Angela Carter is formal:

… those bleak and touching townships of the dead where the graves are marked with portraits of the deceased in the naif style and there are no flowers to put in front of them (…) so they put out small, votive offerings, little loaves, sometimes a cake that the bears come lumbering from the margins of the forest to snatch away. (ll. 10-15)

The first section, which deals with the larger setting, is mainly written in the present tense to suggest the timelessness of the fairy-tale setting, and hinting that the habits of the community might be significant to present day society (ll. 21-25). The second section, which focuses on the little girl’s experience, is written in the past tense: “When she heard that freezing howl of a wolf, she dropped her gifts, seized her knife and turned on the beast. It was a huge one, with red eyes and running, grizzled chops.” (ll. 35-37)

The author’s choice of words helps create the dark atmosphere. The words “cold” (l. 1), “wild” (l. 2), “hard” (l. 2), “dark” (l. 3), “smoky” (l. 3) or “harsh” (l. 6) suggest that the northern country is an unfriendly territory. This points to the predominance of negative words. Furthermore, the words “Devil” (l. 8), “graveyards” (l. 17), “witches” (l. 17), “corpses” (l. 17) help create the horror atmosphere produced by the supernatural beliefs of the community.

The story also contains sequences of non-standard gramma...