Louise Erdrich's Wendigo The Modern Gothic Literature

Wendigo the Modern Gothic Mystery Gothic literature is a type of literature that includes mystery, horror and paranormal. The 5 elements of gothic literature are a Gothic villain, a bleak setting, a Gothic theme, a gloomy mood and recurring symbolism. Wendigo is a modern piece of gothic literature. Wendigo has a bleak setting, gothic villains and a gothic theme. The Wendigo by Louise Erdrich has recurring symbolism in the story. While hiding in the dry grass, the bush drips onto the snow and looks similar to real blood. This is one example of the recurring symbolism in the story, “... each leaf shivered from the bushes we passed until they stood, naked, spread like the cleaned spines of fish”(Erdrich 17-19). This shows how the symbolism is used and what it is being

Wendigo’s are humans who have tasted flesh and their bodies have been warped and disfigured, wearing a deer skull as a mask. Gothic villains tend to defy the laws of physics or have something special that distinguishes one from another. In this case the wendigo seems to have a fur coat growing from his body and possibly frost imbued arms/abilities, “I stole you off, a huge thing in my bristling armor. Steam rolled from my wintry arms”(Erdrich 16-17). What this quote shows is the Wendigo’s traits of a gothic villain like being scary, having a warped/disfigured body and being bound to earth by some item or purpose or occasionally to protect something dear to them by eliminating anything that they may see as a threat. The Wendigo has a gothic villain. Wendigo by Louise Erdrich has a gothic theme. In the forest where the little girl plays, the Wendigo also waits in the tall grass, he has intentions of taking the girl but he believes she wants to be with him. You can clearly tell he isn’t in his right mind because of how he acts and his perception of reality, “Oh touch me, I murmured, and licked the soles of your