To understand why the cover of Steppenwolf should be a wolf-free zone, it is important to know why Haller believes that he is part wolf and not, say, part lion. The reason as to why Hesse chose this bizarre wolf-versus-human metaphor is not absolutely clear, but it is logical to assume that his choice was influenced by either cultural associations or Nietzsche’s writings; still, there is a possibility that there were other factors affecting that decision. In the proverbs and sayings of various peoples around the world, the wolf is related to malice, aggressiveness, poverty, greediness, hunger, and inferiority (Piirainen and Dobrovol'skij, 2021). Speaking of Germanic mythology in particular, the wolf appears to represent cruelty and voracity. It also serves as a symbol of power and strength: along with ravens and eagles, wolves are the "beasts of battle" (Harrisson, 2020). Haller’s wolf self is indeed feral and bloodthirsty, but it also appears to be strong-willed and freedom-loving. As follows from the treatise (61), it does not only represent Haller's negative qualities and repressed desires; the wolf, too, has his abysses and suffers. This suggests that there could be another level of meaning. In German literature, Hesse stands apart from his realist contemporaries. One can hardly call him an artist of the Zeitgeist because he dedicated his work solely to the exploration of the internal. In Steppenwolf, the writer clearly addresses such issues as the growth of German nationalism, the possibility of a new war, and the hypocrisy of bourgeois society; all of this, however, is described in the context of Haller's inner world. This fact, by the way, could be an excellent argument for putting Haller’s portrait on the cover of the book.
The urge to seek one's own identity is the predominant theme in the vast majority of Hesse's novels; to Hesse, individuation represents the pinnacle of human endeavour. In the writer's view, however, one cannot reach a higher level of consciousness and become complete without enduring privations. In his novels, personal catastrophes and childhood traumas often serve as catalysts for one's growth; none of Hesse's protagonists ever had a fun, carefree life. On closer inspection, this feature appears to be a result of his interest in psychoanalysis and Nietzsche’s ideas. It is no secret that the famous philosopher left a mark on Hesse’s work. Just like Nietzsche, Hesse believes that pain and suffering are essential prerequisites for reaching one's potential (Filova, 2021). Both Nietzsche and Hesse endow suffering with a special meaning, sanctify it even. In Zarathustra's return, Hesse writes, “The ability to suffer well is more than half of life—indeed, it is all life. Birth is suffering, growth is suffering, the seed suffers the earth, the root suffers the rain, the bud suffers its flowering” (1919: 96). This statement sounds suspiciously like a softened version of the famous quote from The Will to Power, “To those human beings who are of any concern to me I wish suffering, desolation, sickness, ill-treatment, indignities—I wish that they should not remain unfamiliar with profound self-contempt, the torture of self-mistrust, the wretchedness of the vanquished: I have no pity for them, because I wish them the only thing that can prove today whether one is worth anything or not—that one endures” (1901: 481). While not being as radical as Nietzsche, Hesse seems to perceive life as a marathon of self-overcoming. Another thing on which they both seem to agree is the symbolic meaning of the wolf. To Nietzsche, it is a rebel of some sort, a wild creature prowling deep in the forest, away from the ostentatious brilliance of human society. In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, he compares mavericks to wolves, “But the free spirit, the enemy of fetters, the non-adorer who dwells in the woods, is as hateful to the people as a wolf to dogs. To hound him out of his lair—that is what the people have ever called ‘a sense of decency’; and against him the people still set their fiercest dogs” (1883: 102-103). Haller’s wolf-nature, in turn, is Nietzsche's idea brought to life (Reichert, 1975). Yet Harry Haller is a lot more than this; the wolf is just one of his multiple selves, and that is why it does not make sense to depict it on the cover. Of course, one could also try to capture all parts of his personality in one picture, but it would be quite a challenge because Hesse did not provide us with a clear description.