WOLFF was created under duress, it was something that I felt I must do, a story that I felt that I must tell. Most of my work, both written and drawn is an act of investigation. A focused inquiry searching for clarity. But in this case I knew what the story represented for me and the truth of what it proclaimed. In a sense my telling here is a piece propaganda, written as a reaction, a way to process the horrors with which we all live every day. In itself it cannot change the realities we are enduring, but it can hold a Light up against the Darkness, and hopefully offer some solace and strength to continue the fight.
I have taken for my starting point the story contained in Aesop’s fable “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” and expanded it beyond the brief incident which is usually protrayed. The bored, narcissistic shepherd boy, who finds amusement in pretending to be under attack, just to watch the villagers rush to his aid, is given a history and a context. Both of which required little imagination on my part, for the model my tale is so present in our lives that the story almost told itself. The only pure embellishment I made is at the conclusion, when the Boy is brought to justice for his actions. One can only speak out and pray that justice will be served.
As always I am grateful for the insights of those who have helped me along the way. None of us work alone, and without their help I could not have produced the work you see here. And particularly I want to thank a friend and colleague of some fifty years, who insisted that the story was not done, until I produced a memorial to those who suffered at the hands of the beast. It is because of his forethought that the final image was created. So I thank you all.
Briefly the story unfolds as follows:
A wealthy boy is sent to school, in an attempt to socialize him, and help him gain some sense of responsibility for others. But his sheltered life of privilege has not prepared him to enagage with his schooling, and his own narcissism prevents him from making any adjustments to fit in. Instead he reveals himself to be only a cheat and a bully, a liar and a thief. In the end he is sent home and told to come back when he can work with the other students.
His father then sends him to work as a shepherd, the path he himself had followed as a youth. But again the Boy makes no attempt to discover what it required, making only perfunctory efforts to “care” for his flock. His sheep guide him to their meadow, but once there the Boy immediately wants to abdicate any responsibility for them, and simply suggests that a wall be built around everything to keep away outsiders. When his father balks at the idea, and tells him there are real dangers that he must protect the flock from, the Boy, isolated on his mountain top, begins to imagine shadowy creatures lurking in the trees, and as his fear grows uncontrollable, he summons the villagers to come to his aid.
This first attack of panic is accepted as a sign of his youth and inexperience. Trust your sheep he is told. But now he also realizes that he is truly stuck here with only his flock. This is not the life he imagined for himself. But rather than engage with his environment, and gain familiarity with it and his flock, retreats into drink, and with it, wild musings of imagination, in which he is given everything he desires. When he passes out from drunkenness, his sheep wander off in search of food. And he awakens to find himself alone. Again fearing the worst, he calls for help.
This time the villagers, and his father have no patience. His failure to care for his flock and his drunkenness are seen as betrayals, and he is made to apologize for his actions. Crushed by the loss of any respect from his father, and isolated in his servitude on the mountain top, he turns on his flock, blaming them for his pain. And in a fit of madness he kills them all. When he returns to consciousness he is unable to comprehend what he has done, and he flees the mountain, again claiming a beast has attacked.
A third time the villagers climb to his meadow, uncertain of what they will find. Only to discover a truth more horrible than they could every have imagined. The Boy’s father finally takes full responsibility for his son’s actions, and hands him over to the judgement of the village. The Boy is placed in the stocks in the village square, where he can see each day the pain and suffering he has caused, and to be a reminder to the community of their responsibility to each other.
And over the years, a memorial is created by the children of the village, a meadow populated by a flock of “sheep” that the children can care for in memory of this that were lost.
A portfolio of the images from the book will be exhibited at a later date.
And a trade paperback version of the book will soon be available as a print on demand title from Barnes and Noble, Inc., at
barnesandnoble.com