“You do not make faces at wolves”

“You do not make faces at wolves” is a proverb of self-protection: anger may be justified, but openly showing it to a dangerous opponent can be unwise. The novel gives the expression its force in a small, controlled moment, where an impulse to speak is checked by the recognition that the person or power on the other end of the line may not be safely confronted.

Meaning and Image

The image makes restraint physical. To make a face is to show contempt or defiance; the wolf stands for an adversary whose capacity to retaliate makes such a display risky. The expression is therefore more than advice to be polite. It frames silence as a deliberate response to danger, while leaving open whether that caution is prudence, fear, or both.

The Call to the Mastaba Club

After a phone call ends abruptly, the woman dials 1471 and calls the returned number back. The line reaches the Mastaba Club, whose recorded message says that no one is available to take care of the call and invites callers to leave a message for a member. She thinks of several rude replies, but puts the phone down before saying them. The proverb follows that withheld response; she then gets up, decides there will be no more calls, and crosses the entrance hall as the American long-case clock strikes midnight. The sequence turns the expression into action: she has the opportunity to speak, but chooses not to expose her anger.

Concealed Power and the Limits of Defiance

Elsewhere, the book presents power as difficult to see and challenge. A satirical account of arms dealings describes people acting contrary to their countries’ laws while remaining effectively invisible to those in authority. A later account of the Ash-Mac takeover explains how the former owner, Palinurus Maciver Senior, became a concern after making accusations of illegal trading; the narrator recommends undermining his credibility, and a combination of threat and bribery brings Jake Gallipot onto the investigators’ side. These episodes do not identify the Mastaba Club’s unavailable member or explain the caller’s exact grievance. They do, however, give the proverb a wider resonance in a story where influence can be concealed and open opposition carries risks.

Narrative Function

The saying condenses the final phone scene into a rule for conduct. The woman’s unspoken rudeness is not a reconciliation or a resolution: she simply ends the exchange and resolves not to call again. By placing the proverb after the failed attempt to reach someone at the club, the novel lets an ordinary act of self-restraint carry a darker implication. The warning is clear, while the identity and intentions of the people represented by the wolves remain unstated.