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By definition, a fable is "a short allegorical narrative making a moral point, traditionally by means of animal characters who speak and act like human beings." Traditionally, the fables that have been ingrained into our society tend to have a liberal bent promoting the idea of social justice. Paul Lake's Cry Wolf, on the other hand, does almost the exact opposite: it presents an entertaining fable with a conservative ideology behind it.
Paul Lake, an English professor at Arkansas Tech University, models his story off of the classic Animal Farm by George Orwell. Both novels are centered around farm animals that are trying to maintain a political community. In Cry Wolf, there is a strong division between the tame animals that live on the farm and the wild ones that live in the forest. As the animals in Orwell's Animal Farm want to escape from human oppression and institute their philosophy of animalism, the animals in Paul Lake's Cry Wolf struggle to hold on to their ties to human beings, or their tameness, and promote the benefits of "many-animalism." Throughout the course of the novel, the tame animals of Green Pastures Farm struggle to keep control of the farm that is being overwhelmed by wild animals from the forest.
The domesticated animals of Green Pastures Farm initially enjoy their way of life, following a strict-interpretation of the farm's laws: the most important one being "NO TRESPASSING." Early in the book, they find themselves with a security breach when a sick deer stumbles over the fence separating the farm from the wild. After taking this deer under their care, they are soon faced with the problem of illegal immigration and must come up with a plan to allow others to become citizens of the farm. Eventually, they resort to a plan of general amnesty and shortly after, they see their nice, orderly lifestyle disappear before their eyes. Soon, the "forest-born" (to be politically correct) begin to take over and institute multiculturalism in the form of "many-animalism" and judicial activism. The animals are overly concerned with their conceptualizations of social justice and are too scared to stand up for their beliefs because those who have are exiled or killed.
This book paints a scary picture of what can happen when animals (or people) begin to abandon their fundamental beliefs and ideologies. Paul Lake's fable has been credited as an illustration of how good intentions can easily become destructive when too much emphasis is placed on fairness and equality. After the farm animals have been accused of social injustices, they soon abandon all of their laws, and when the wild ones come into power, laws that embody opposing ideas are enacted. As a result, the government of Green Pastures Farm no longer provides its citizens with the safety and security that it once did. Laurie Morrow, political columnist in The Montpelier Bridge, expressed an interesting view that "what seems, at first, a gentle fable about farm animals who enjoy a kind of ordered liberty, turns quickly into a grim allegory about man's dark impulse toward the collective."
The most outstanding quality of Paul Lake's Cry Wolf is how accurately he portrays different groups in society and the problems or issues that we face in modern times. After reading this book, one will seriously contemplate society's stance on illegal immigration, racism, discrimination, freedom of speech, and political correctness. This short book exemplifies how easily pluralistic thought can quickly evolve into chaos and anarchy. Like many great books, this one proves to be thought provoking and conversation starting.
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