Julie of The WolvesArt Connections

ByWilliam Fung

A Friend In Need – Cassius CoolridgeThis painting really embodies the first few chapters of the story because, Julie is stuck with a pack of wolves, they acknowledge that she is there but they do not care about her, it is as if she is playing a poker game with the wolves but she keeps on getting a bad hand, until she finally communicates with them, the wolves are trying to win the poker tournament and continue on with their lives, but Julie needs to communicate with them and use the wolves to her advantage to keep herself alive, or trying to read their ‘pokerface’

The Potato Eaters – Van GoghWhile Julie is with the wolves she has barely anything to eat, and the wolves don’t give her any food in the first few moments that she is incorporated in their pack, so she has to eat moss that grows around the wolves’ den until they actually start feeding her, which connects to this picture of people eating potatoes and nothing else, it connects because they have nothing else to eat, like how Julie has to eat moss.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa - Katsushika HokusaiTo me, the Great Wave represents the troubles that Julie has, she is being overrun by them, she runs away from home, in Alaska, to go to San Francisco because she was miserable at home. She is eventually troubled because she is overrun by the hardships of communicating with the wolves, and because it seems like she gets rescued, but the planes just fly over her and do not spot her, which is like a giant wave crashing down on her ship of hope.

American Gothic – Grant WoodIn this picture, I see a family, and it can represent many things in the story. Julie’s dad went missing in the seas while she was young, and I believe the woman can be the embodiment of Julie, because she’s looking over at her father as if she’s a bit, worried or, disgruntled. Another reason on why it connects to Julie is because of how disappointed or sad she looks, she doesn’t smile, she doesn’t look happy at all, if anything, a bit angry, that’s probably why she ran away from home.

Girl with a Pearl Earring – Johannes VermeerThe girl in the painting looks a bit argued, as if she is looking back at something with something heavy in her head. This reminds me of Julie when she goes “Julie is gone…I am Miyax now” (George 104) It connects because the girl is conveying the same emotions that Julie is letting out, turning back as if she’s saying goodbye before she leaves, and in Julie’s case, she leaves to go to San Francisco, saying goodbye to one of her friends before she started to walk away, even the girl’s eyes show a bit of resentment.

Buffalo Hunt, Under Wolf Skin - George CaitlinThis painting connects to the book because it shows a hunt in progress, and throughout the book, Julie hunts along with the wolves and become part of the pack. That also means joining in hunts, and that is the part that connects with the book, it is because the pictures shows wolves and it also shows the humans under the wolves, which to me, symbolizes Julie trying to incorporate herself into the pack via hunting with the pack.

Happy Eskimo's - Aleta Parks The painting shows two eskimos and a wolf inbetween. It symbolizes Julie’s relationship with her husband, Daniel, who she had met when she was in elementary school. In the book, her reason to live was now Amoraq, the leader of the wolf pack, who she loves, “But not Daniel. I’m [Julie’s] a wolf now, and wolves loves leaders” (George 61) So the wolf is seperating the two apart by being inbetween them, but at the same time, the two are holding hands, which represents their marriage together.

Inuit Whale Hunt – Lewis ParkerJulie was forced to go to school by law, and the picture is a Inuit hunting party going out to sea. This literally represents Julie’s father, who went out to sea on a hunting trip and never came back, leaving Julie with her mother. The picture symbolizes the passing and the deaths of Eskimos, going out to hunting and never returning, like Julie’s father and the rest of his hunting group.

Looking Back – Liang Jun YanThis painting shows an old woman, looking backwards with a resentful smile, or a frown and closed eyes as if she were crying. This really speaks to me because, near the end of the book, Julie goes to a coastal town, finally reaching back to mankind, and she sang out “Go away, royal wolf, go away, do not follow. I’m a gun at your head, when I pass the oil drum” Which meant that once she passed onto civilization, the wolves would be killed by the hunters in the town, so she has to say goodbye to her pack, this image really captured the moment because the old woman looks really sad, and it also shows how much Julie has grown.

The Scream – Edvard MunchThe Scream, one of the most paintings in the world, wraps up the entire ending of the story, starting with the injury of Kapu, a pack member, who was fired on by one of the residents of the coastal town, and no-one helped, which lead Julie to a scream, because no-one was going to help and she had to run away with the rest of the wolves back to the tundra. Then, all of the wolves were howling [or screaming] for help from Amaroq, the pack leader.

Sources Cited

• The Van Gogh Gallery. 15 January 2011. Templeton Reid, LLC. 20 February 2013.

• Coolridge, Cassius. ""A Friend in Need" by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge." "A Friend in Need" by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge. DogsPlayingPoker.org, 18 Oct. 2009. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

• Kisner. "Kinsner: Hokusai's Great Wave." Kinsner: Hokusai's Great Wave. University of Manitoba, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

Sources Cited

• "Most Famous Paintings â List of the World �� Most Popular Painting." Totally History Famous Paintings Comments. TotallyHistory.com, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

• Miller, Gay. "Plains Indians." Plains Indians. Http://www.mce.k12tn.net, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

• Parks, Aleta. "Happy Eskimo's." Fine Art America. Fineartamerica.com, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

Sources Cited

• Yan, Liang Jun. "Looking Back." Pictify. Http://pictify.com, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

• Munch, Edvard. "The Scream by Edvard Munch â Facts & History of the ��Painting." Totally History The Scream Comments. Http://totallyhistory.com, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

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