Themes In Never Cry Wolf By Farley Mowat

Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat is a non-fiction story about naturalist Farley Mowat, on an expedition to find out why so many caribou were being killed. Mowat’s superiors believed that wolves were killing the caribou. He spent almost a year investigating the wolves’ way of life focusing on a small pack made up of two males and a female with her pups. Mowat camped near their den and observed their eating and hunting habits.He observed that wolves rarely ate caribou and when they did, it was the weak and sick ones. Also, with the help of Ootek, a local Eskimo he was able to understand how wolves communicate and hunt, and he saw that these wolves were not a tremendous threat to the caribou. This book gives the reader a view into the life of these wild animals and how they all work together in their unique environment. Mowat had many doubts, but he slowly understood the truth about wolves. He also spent time following the wolves as they hunted and he examined their techniques. Mowat even experienced close up encounters and the wolves did not treat him like a foreigner. Mowat and his colleagues had the wrong idea about the wolves and this novel allows the reader to be able to see the truth.

Mowat and the reader learned three things - facts and falsehoods about the wolf, the way wolves live and hunt, and how hostile they are towards humans. Not all wolves are the same, but one can see that they are not as everyone pictures them; the wolf is not a cold-blooded killer, wolves hunt what is needed and when there is a threat to their pack. Not every reader finds non-fiction appealing but this novel does not immerse the reader in dull facts. Mowat provides a fascinating and true story about his time with the wolves. Never Cry Wolf provides the reader with insight to the wolf way of living and the connection Farley Mowat, scientist and author, had with these