2011/09/01 by Danette DiMarco · 2 citations
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Gothic Literature and Media Analysis #Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction #Literature, Film, and Journalism Analysis #Oryx #Monster #Destiny (ISS module) #Symbol (formal) #Interpretation (philosophy) #Art history #Metaphor #Order (exchange) #Art #History #Literature #Sociology #Philosophy #Linguistics
paper · doi:10.1353/lit.2011.0038
openalex publication_date 2011/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Margaret Atwood's interpretation of the concept of becoming or going Wendigo, discussed in her work Strange Things (1995), is useful to a reading of Antonia Bird's film Ravenous (1999). This essay will first investigate Atwood's novel Oryx and Crake (2003) as an application of her own conclusions regarding the Wendigo as a cultural metaphor. Then the essay will analyze Bird's deployment of the Wendigo in her film—which, unlike Oryx and Crake , directly establishes a specific temporal and geographical setting, during the Mexican-American war in the wilds of northern California—in order to consider how the iconic Wendigo serves as a symbol for a critique of Manifest Destiny and military resistance.