I commented the explanation before I’m rereading it and the concept is hard to grasp so I’ll explain it for you
This manhwa is full of symbolism and it contains some references to the Bible. This story is not about love, it’s something much more deeper. So this is how I interpreted this story. Sorry, it's a little long.
Todd is the wolf(coyote),representing the devil himself, while Dennis is the opposite-naive, innocent, like a sheep.
Early in the story, the farm owner warns Dennis to “trust nothing except the sheep” which can be interpreted as to trust only what is pure and innocent(In the Bible, sheep are seen as symbols of innocence ).The farm owner already knew that someone or something was in the mountains, who seduces men and takes away their sheep.
Todd lures Dennis in with love, but his true goal was the sheep and more importantly-Dennis’s soul.Dennis falling in love with Todd represents him giving in to temptation. He places his trust in the very opposite of purity, despite the farm owner's warning.
In the end, Todd devours all the sheep and returns to wherever he came from (symbolically hell). Dennis is left with nothing-no love, no sheep, no purpose and devastated by that,he takes his own life, following Todd into the darkness.
Todd didn’t just take the sheep,he took Dennis’s soul as well, connecting with him through his mind and seducing him to fall from the cliff.
This is where the title "THE FALLEN LAMB" comes in. As we understood, in the Bible, a lamb
represents innocence and purity. This suggests that Dennis was once pure, like a lamb, but after falling in love with a demon, he lost everything and fell-both metaphorically and literally.He was a sheep himself,eventually devoured by the very wolf he trusted.That's why Todd spent so much time with Dennis,to eventually get his soul.
I don’t think you get what I’m saying tho, not hating btw haha!!
The issue for me was that quite a lot of people were expecting plot, development and asking for explanations or any reasoning when there is literally none.
Which is why I mentioned the example of critically analizing a fairytale, not in a rhetorical/artistic sense but in a realistic way. I’m talking about a whole different aspect btw- not the real “plot” of this but the way a lot of readers are consuming their media. Like it wouldn’t make sense for us to ask “why did the farm owner still sent him, even tho he knows there is something that takes his lambs? Why is Todd even interested in Dennis, when he could just take the lamb? Etc etc.” This just misses the whole literacy of this webtoon
But since your analysis is very good, I wanna add something to it
The mentioning of the bible is also very very good point, especially with the aspects of innocence and the devil but I honestly don’t believe it’s all “just” symbolism from the bible- (as an atheist hahaha). Everyone is open to have their own opinion tho since I said, this webtoon isn’t a clear and straightforward story.
I believe this could also be just some kind of horror story tbh since lambs and coyotes (or wolves for that matter) are a general metaphor for innocence and violence, the good and the bad. Since the devil is usually depicted as a goat, and not necessarily a coyote (as those stem mostly from American mythology ig)
And Todd definetly embodies LUST, and not love IMO! It would fit into your narrative since (gay) sex is surely a sin in most believes haha - which again also makes your explanation really good.
Still, this is very very open and I feel like everyone should have their own opinion and interpretation about this masterpiece. It’s really interesting to see what other might think about it - it’s a waste that many believe the ending is bad, and only come here for the smut.
Oooooh okay! honestly, I was thinking that this is basically another narrative that comes from the Bible since the Bible does have narrow stories such as this story, but I really like your perspective about the whole story and concept from the narrow ending that comes from The Fallen Lamb. I guess there really isn’t any straight forward answers from the symbolism shown and I think it was quite narrow minded of me to think that it was!
Thanks for giving me your perspective! I think that’s the reason why I love this story so much because there isn’t a straightforward answer from the symbolism shown and that it’s for everyone to have their own opinions on the subject!
I think that we’re both correct as it does have signs from the Bible but it’s also very narrow enough to make our own assumptions that’s can stem from the Bible or from deeper meanings that individuals can make deeper generalizations and concepts about!
I don’t think you were narrow minded at all, you just had your own view of this story and as you said, this story is diverse and could mean a lot of things. Tho the motives of innocence, the devil, temptation etc. (Embodied into animals too) are quite straightforward, there is just “no real meaning” to all of this so it’s not possible for Dennis and Todd to be really characterized imo.
Like its hard to explain what I mean honestly but what you’ve explained in your first comment definitely makes sense - but it’s not what I was talking about. it’s just that to me, this is supposed to be read under a veil of ignorance.
Also I love biblical motives and suggestions, they make it even more eerie and interesting to me. Those connections are easily made tho (kind of like the Barnum effect, it’s like very very easy to claim that something is inspired by the bible or religion, because it’s just so broadly applicable) and honestly I wouldn’t even mind if someone said this is about some gay cowboy having sex with some demon dude BUT don’t expect for this to have some special kind of development because this will never be that LMAO
I really enjoyed reading your interpretation on this!! I love how diverse this story is and how much it has to offer … this being so vague makes it so creepy and interesting at the same time (▰˘◡˘▰)
Literacy is dying but honestly there isn’t much to expect on a site where most readers just expect smut. Did some of yall really expect development in a story which isn’t supposed to go anywhere?
Just think about it. There is a monster somewhere in a setting which doesn’t seem to be supernatural, but the guy or more likely the people there know about it. An entity of some sorts. what could dennis have done? There is NO other outcome. Yes he could have not trusted Todd but this doesn’t mean Todd wouldn’t have killed the sheep. There is no explanation for why the employer went ballistic on Dennis because nothing else could have happened. There is no explanation on what Todd is, because it will never be disclosed - alone the fact that he is SOMETHING other than human will never be the focal point of this.
The horror already starts with the employer giving him this job. He knows what will happen but he also doesn’t. Why would he sent someone to those cursed mountains? He just told dennis not to trust anyone, but it’s nonhuman, something that kills. Would you ever let someone near a known psychotic killer, just telling them “don’t trust them.”?? No you wouldn’t even let them near the killer. This doesn’t make sense and isn’t supposed to, it’s like explaining why or how the little red riding is stupid af because a child is alone in the woods and there is some wolf furry acting like he’s her granny to eat her.
There is no explanation to this but the eerie, creeping feeling of something happening and it’s OBVIOUS what will happen, but we still kept reading.