How does that kind of surprisewhen our expectations are ...

[crazycityslicker]

How does that kind of surprisewhen our expectations are subvertedwork on us emotionally? Why do you think Le Guin chose not to tell us from the outset that the characters were wolves?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

At what point did you realize that this story was not what it seemed? Whatspecific moments in the text first revealed that Le Guin had turned things upsidedown?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[okolip]

Answer to Question 1

• Our first reaction is probably one of pleasure at the cleverness of the trick, the way we might respond to an O. Henry story or an episode of The Twilight Zone, and admiration for the author who has entertained us by thinking it up. Then, we might think something along the lines of Yes, it makes sense, when you consider it: wolves, and no doubt all sorts of other creatures, must have their own customs and beliefs, their own way of looking at the world. From there, if we truly ponder the implications, we might begin thinking about how the notion that there are two sides to every argument also applies to racial and religious tensions, to sectarian and international conflicts. By allowing us to assume through much of the story that the characters are human, Le Guin makes us feel a sense of kinship with the speaker and identify with her values and her point of view. Having done so, we cannot then simply dismiss her as something alien and therefore unworthy of being respected or taken seriously.

Answer to Question 2

• By the third paragraph, with the reference to its being the moons fault, and the blood, more discerning readers may begin to suspect that the husband is a werewolf. But it is not until near the end of the story, in paragraph 11, with its description of the husbands feet turning into those of a man, that we grasp the true nature of the situation.