WolfVanZandt wrote:Boy! That seems more convoluted than I would have thought. For instance, are wolves "people". If not, why? And if so, those normal people don't seem too interested in body ornamentation. So why would Werewolves lean in the Human direction rather than the Wolf direction on this?
In fact, why do Humans go in for body decorations while Wolves don't?
You're asking alot of debatable questions there.
IMHO...
I think that animals like wolves are right on the border line between what IS or is NOT a "person". I would define a "Person" as a creature that is aware of the concept of "SELF". "
I think therefore I am". I know that a wolf thinks, and that it is aware of it's surroundings, but does it ever ponder what or who
itself is? I think that any animal that can understand the concept of "Self" and is
aware of it
self would just barely meet the definition of a "Person."
As for why a wolf does or does not have interest in body ornamentation, that question once again leads back to the idea of "Self". Is a Wolf even
aware of whether it is beautiful or ugly? They don't commonly look into mirrors, (though they can see reflections in bodies of water), so it is doubtful the idea ever crosses thier mind. If a wolf were to be wary enough of the concept of "self" to notice that it is less attractive to other wolves (of the opposite gender perhaps?) when it is dirty or mangy, then it might take the trouble to wash itself before encountering others for this purpose. (pure speculation, of course).
The fact of the matter is, of course, that though it may be debatable whether a ferral wolf is even aware of the idea of personal beauty, a
Werewolf (being at least half, if not mostly human) is FULLY aware of this idea, and living in a world full of humans, has surely been influenced by the common beliefs and trends of those around them.
Why do humans like to decorate themselves? Good question.
I think it really just comes down to "self" again. We ARE aware of our own beauty (and/or lack of). We realise that it is more pleasant to be seen as attractive or beautiful by others. Therefore, in the interest of increasing the joy in our lives, we seek to make ourselves
more beautiful by any means we can come up with. (Be that simply keeping ourselves clean and well groomed, or ADDING features to ourselves such as brightly colored clothing, earings, necklaces, tattoos, makeup, and so forth.)
A werewolf, being aware of these concepts, and also being like any other concious living creature, (desiring more JOY), would be just as likely to desire to make itself more beautiful or in any other way attractive as a human would.
...and if the person was BORN human and was later bitten, then I think this point would be completely Mute anyway. Jane would still be Jane after being bitten by a werwolf, and if she liked bracelets and earings and braided hair before, she likely would still like them after becoming a werewolf. ..because Werewolf or not...she's still Jane.
...again...IMHO.
