The Lair explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Survival and Adaptation

  The she-wolf's need to find a safe lair and One Eye's struggle to hunt in the melting snow highlight the constant adaptation required for survival.

• Instinct vs. Reason

  The she-wolf's instinctive fear of One Eye eating the cubs and One Eye's instinct to hunt override any reasoned behavior, driving their actions.

• Wilderness vs. Civilization

  The wolves flee the Indian camp (a form of civilization) after a rifle shot, retreating deeper into the wilderness to raise their cubs.

Characters to notice

• Kiche

  The she-wolf, heavy with cubs, finds a cave and gives birth to five cubs, displaying protective instincts.

• One Eye

  The father wolf, who hunts and returns to find the newborn cubs, then leaves to hunt again.

• The Cub

  One of the five newborn cubs, helpless and blind, sheltered by the she-wolf.

Key passages

• “Her instinctive fear of the father of her progeny was toning down. He was behaving as a wolf-father should, and manifesting no unholy desire to devour the young lives she had brought into the world.”

  The she-wolf's natural fear of the father of her cubs was fading, as he acted appropriately and showed no intention of eating the newborns.

  Describes the she-wolf's growing trust in One Eye as a father.

• “He could resist the call of the world no longer. Besides, he was hungry.”

  He could no longer ignore the pull of the outside world, and he was also hungry.

  One Eye's internal conflict between guarding the lair and his need to hunt.

• “It was there, in the fibre of his being; and it was the most natural thing in the world that he should obey it by turning his back on his new-born family and by trotting out and away on the meat-trail whereby he lived.”

  The instinct was ingrained in his very nature, making it perfectly natural for him to leave his newborn family and go hunt for food.

  Explains One Eye's instinctive drive to hunt despite the new cubs.