27 pages • 54 minutes read
The Storyteller
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Symbols & Motifs
The “Good Girl”
In both the aunt’s boring, “stupid” story, and the bachelor’s story, there is a “good girl.” In the bachelor’s story, the good girl gains a name and becomes a significant character in her own right rather than only a symbol. However, in both stories, the good girl symbolizes the expectations of proper society in Edwardian England. It is worth noting that it is a “girl,” as girls were expected to be more obedient, quiet, and moral than boys, even of the same age and class. Adult women were often categorized with and treated like children, which makes the image of the “good girl” even more potent, intertwining subservience with women’s gender roles in general. Hints of this can be seen with the aunt, who is responsible for children who are not hers and seems to struggle with the expectation placed on her.
The good girl symbol also represents people of all ages, genders, and classes in English society, as propriety and goodness were universally expected and rewarded. However, it becomes clear as Bertha’s story progresses that this kind of obedience (such as being a law-abiding citizen) is not inherently good when the rules permit evil actions (such as the wolf’s violence). Bertha’s death subverts the good girl symbol, promoting the idea that perfect behavior does not guarantee happiness or safety.
The Three Medals
The three medals represent the rewards for goodness that are promised by the aunt and by society at large. They are inscribed with specific traits: “a medal for following rules, one for being on time, and one for general good behavior” (Paragraph 31), showing what exactly is considered “good behavior” in Edwardian England. The medals are the kinds of external rewards that can and should motivate people to goodness, at least according to the aunt and English society.
However, in the bachelor’s story, these three medals take on a sinister meaning. The medals are ostentatious, clinking together to reveal Bertha’s hiding place and leading to her demise. Thus, the three medals symbolize not merely the external rewards of good behavior, but also the dangers that may lie just beneath those rewards. All that is left of Bertha after the wolf eats her are her medals, highlighting their role in leading her into trouble.
The Park
The park is a similar symbol to the medals. Like the medals, the park is a tangible reward for Bertha’s good behavior and propriety. It is the kind of reward that should be the driving force for all good behavior. It is exclusive, a prince’s private park that no one else is allowed in. While the park is beautiful, it’s a lonely place; Bertha walks there alone, hinting that this sort of upright behavior can be alienating.
The park quickly shifts from being a symbol of external reward to one of danger and harm. As Bertha herself realizes, the park becomes the place of her death, which she would never have been permitted to enter had she not been so good. The park’s exclusivity leaves no one around to help her, and since it is guarded, she is trapped within it. As such, the park represents the sorts of traps that might ensnare someone who is indiscriminately obedient or people-pleasing.
The Wolf
Like the three medals, the wolf is also a symbol of danger. However, where the medals begin as a positive, external reward that hides an internal danger, the wolf is a threatening symbol from the outset. There is no veneer of reward or good intentions in the wolf’s arrival or actions. It is a symbol of punishment for good behavior, a kind of living embodiment of the adage “no good deed goes unpunished.” It is unambiguously deadly.
In fairy tales, wolves often punish characters who misbehave, making Munro’s wolf a subversion of a traditional archetype. In this case, the wolf symbolizes the external forces that can take advantage of a person’s desires to be good, especially where that “good” is measured by propriety and obedience. For instance, the wolf could symbolize those who take advantage of a supposed moral good to exact control or violence over the powerless.
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