# I: Watho explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by George MacDonald.

## What happens

Introduces the witch Watho, who desires to know everything and is driven by a wolf-like cruelty. She is tall, graceful, with white skin, red hair, and black eyes that hold a red fire, but occasionally she shudders and bends as if the wolf has moved from her mind to her back.

## Themes in this chapter

### Vanity and Self-Conceit

Watho's desire to know everything reflects a form of intellectual vanity and self-conceit.

## Character check-ins

### Watho

The witch who desires to know everything, with a wolf in her mind that makes her cruel.

## Key lines

> There was once a witch who desired to know everything. But the wiser a witch is, the harder she knocks her head against the wall when she comes to it.

A witch named Watho wanted to know all things, yet the more she learned, the more frustrated she became.

_Introduces Watho's insatiable curiosity and its ironic consequence._

> She was not naturally cruel, but the wolf had made her cruel.

Though not inherently cruel, an inner wolf-like nature drove her to cruelty.

_Explains the source of Watho's cruelty._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/i-watho
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_21_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters