On A Mountain Trail Analysis

Wolves, when in groups, are universally threatening and recurrently feared. This being known, they are often portrayed as an evil or opposing force. Although, on occasion, they have also been known to be referred to as “noble creatures who can teach us many things.” (http://www.wolfcountry.net/) But consequently, despite the popular interpretation of wolves and their characteristics, each story presents its own interpretation of their many characteristics. “On A Mountain Trail,” by Harry Perry Robinson, portrays wolves as grim, dark forms who moved as rapidly as they did and whom silently, yet ever persistently came upon them with no warning. (paragraphs 1, 6) These ominous creatures may represent the swift and graceful desperation of nature. This representation reveals itself to us in many ways, one of these ways being the way in which Robinson describes the wolves. By describing the pack of wolves as silent and consumed with the pertinacity of the hunt whom which seemed to rise, “out of the earth and the shadow of the bushes,” he conveys that the figures were in sync, yet held chaos in their

(paragraph 22) Such nagging, determined creatures may represent the insistent urging and determined prodding of death. This representation is introduced to us in a number of ways. One of these ways is through Koskoosh’s memory of the bull moose in his final moments. Koskoosh, after having a cold wolf muzzle thrust against his cheek, feels a cold chill and receives a flashback to his childhood where he witnessed the struggle and death of an old moose. (paragraph 22) By remembering the bull moose and how it too was battling wolves at its final hour, we see that Koskoosh relates such an event to his own situation. He perceives the wolves as death falling upon him to maintain the law of life that all things must