Comparative Analysis of Luella Miller and Wolfland

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Comparative Analysis of Luella Miller and Wolfland
The stories Luella Miller by Mary Wilkins-Freeman and Wolfland by Tanith Lee appear to be similar in their approach to a particular topic that will the focus of this paper. In her story, Freeman uses the character Luella Miller to showcase how the idea of being feminine can be misconstrued to mean overly dependent and the inability to take care of oneself. On the other hand, Lee through his story Wolfland writes about how a woman managed to find strength to free herself from a toxic environment. The two stories portray women in different ways or perspectives which often play a significant role in how the world treats and view women. Today, women are fighting for equality, and a story like Luella Miller may not resonate with where they aspire to go. However, Wolfland does seem to show women the direction of taking matters into their hands and finding ways to survive without asking for help or using their feminine side to get help as Luella Miller would. So, in this article, the aim is to compare how these two stories communicate different versions of women.
The feminine character as exhibited in Luella Miller is quite needy in that it cannot succeed without the support of others. Luella could not tend to her needs or care for herself. She was helpless and had to rely on all that was being done for her. She needed people around to help take care of her. On the other hand, the women presented in Wolfland, especially Anna (Lisel’s grandmother) are people who take matters into their own hands. Anna was in an abusive marriage, and her husband would beat her up. However, she did not fancy herself weak but instead decided to make herself stronger and face her fears. “He knows they are the eyes of Anna. And that it is Anna who then tears out his throat” (Lee, 641). This is a person who is no longer comfortable with their previous situation and is thus facing her fears. She did not wait for help but decided to take matters into her own hands. So, while the character in Luella Miller was needy, the character(s) in Wolfland appear strong and in charge. The decision to eat the yellow flowers was purely Anna’s, and no one pushed her or made her take the flowers. She had had enough and was ready to change her circumstances.