How Does Angela Carter Use Drug Abuse In The Company Of Wolf

In 1979, twenty-five million people were using illegal drugs. Most people wouldn’t usually associate drugs with the classic “Little Red Riding Hood” story, but Angela Carter takes a current issue in her time period and writes about it using the old children’s story. Angela Carter’s “The Company of Wolves” deals with the classic “Red Riding Hood” with one twist. Instead of a “big, bad wolf” there are multiple werewolves. There are three ways a man can become a werewolf. The ways are an ointment from the devil, being bitten by a werewolf and being born feet first. The only way to be sure if a man is a werewolf is his devastating eyes, similar to how it is possible to tell a drug addict by how sunken in their eyes are. Carter’s story reflects the battle with drug addiction between the 1960s and the 1970s.

Carter shows the drug addiction battle in the description of the werewolves in their man form.

“His matted hair streams down and she can see the lice moving in it, his skin is the color and texture of vellum and his devastating eyes as red as a wound,” (Carter). The previous quote can be used to describe some drug abusers as well. Drug abusers generally have bloodshot eyes, pale skin, and unkempt hair. A reference to drugs can be found in the subtext of Carter’s story, such as the ointment the Devil gives a man. This ointment can be considered a drug because the men have to rub it on before they become a werewolf, such as drugs do not take effect until they enter the bloodstream. Carter also references how drug abusers will do anything to get the money or drugs for their next

hit.
Carter says that the wolves always have a way to get inside. They always have ways to break in and steal to get what they want. The behavior exhibited by the wolves is the same behavior exhibited by drug addicts looking to get their next fix. Drug abusers usually break into homes and steal the most valuable items that are easy to carry, but will also fetch a high price. The behavior is also exhibited in the Grimm Brothers’ “Little Red Cap”. The wolf in “Little Red Cap” tricks Little Red into picking flowers in the woods and to also stray from the path. He does this so he can run ahead and eat her grandma, providing him with a meal he would have otherwise not received.
As with every dark point, there is a bright side. Most drug addicts would prefer not to have to rely on drugs, such as the werewolves in Carter’s story would prefer “to be less beastly if only they knew how,” (Carter). There is a certain kind of defeat in their voice that makes it seem as if they are mourning their own insatiable appetites, both for the wolves and the drug addicts. At the end of the story, Carter talks about the wolves and how their howls change from depressing to almost cheerful. The reason for this change could be the wolves sensing a way to change who they are now, such as rehab for drug abusers.
Carter’s take of the classic “Red Riding Hood” story takes a current issue and presents it in a new way. Drug addiction is still a major battle today. In the 1960s, it was mainly hippies that did drugs. In today’s society, it is the teenagers. Sixty percent of high school seniors do not think regular marijuana use is harmful, even though the main ingredient is twenty times stronger than it was five years ago. Therefore, the reflection of drug addiction in “The Company of Wolves” can still be used today. Angela Carter’s “The Company of Wolves” reflects the drug addiction battle during the 1960s and the 1970s by referencing what drug addicts look like in the human form of the werewolf. Carter also shows the battle by showing how drug addicts behave in the actions of the werewolves. The last way Carter presents the battle is by showing how some drug abusers would rather not have to rely on their addiction in the sadness of the wolf howls.