The Wife's Story By Ursula K Le Guin

In the short story, “The Wife’s Story,” by Ursula K. Le Guin, the central idea is to make sure to see people for how they really are not how you want to see them. In the short story the author states, “I went up close because I thought if the thing was dead the spell, the curse, must be done, and my husband could come back-alive, or even dead, if I could only see him, my true love, in his true form, beautiful”(Le Guin 8, lines 125-128). The wife keeps referring to her husband as a wolf, in his true form, his true beautiful form, but she is not considering the signs that showed her that he is different. The wife only focuses on what she wants her to be, not what he really is. The use of characterization helps to develop the central idea that …show more content…
The wife describes her husband as being a great father, and everyone would agree. As demonstrated the text states, “I snapped the end of it in my teeth and started to force my way out, because I knew the man would kill our children if he could”(Le Guin 7, lines 108-110).This quote shows how the wife was so wrong about her husband, thinking that he would always be good to her and there kids, and how she should have recognized otherwise. In all, there are many literary elements, and one big one is characterization. In the short story, “The Wife’s Story,” by Ursula K. Le Guin, she uses characterization to help develop the central idea. By using characterization, it helps to show how people should try to see people for what they really are, and not what you want them to be by giving many sides to a character. By showing the different sides to the husband it shows how much the wife only saw him one way. Ergo, characterization helps develop the central idea, in the short story by Ursula Le Guin, by helping the reader further understand it, and gives the reader many examples of