Deconstructing "Tale of Two Wolves"

There is an old Cherokee tale about two wolves. 

One evening, an elderly Cherokee brave told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, “my son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, apathy and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.” The grandson though about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “the one that you feed.”

When I first read that quote, I was amazed by the truth and simplicity of it. I am sure almost everybody would agree to the fact that there is a constant battle going on between good and evil and it is also logical that the wolf you feed is the wolf that wins. My train of thought doesn't stop there though.

Superficially this makes sense, but let us dig a little deep. 

We are talking about two metaphorical wolves representing traits in a human being battling each other constantly. Consider a scenario where a person is constantly feeding the good wolf. As time passes, the good wolf  is well nourished and healthy while the bad wolf is starving and slowly deteriorating. This kind of situation will in turn make the bad wolf more savage, more aggressive and desperate to lash out and strike more lethally than before, for its own survival. There is every chance during this period of time, the bad wolf might gain a temporary advantage and mortally wound the good wolf if not kill it entirely. 

If the situation continues, the bad wolf will get weaker, losing the battle all the time and eventually starve to death, and the good wolf triumphs forever, in an ideal world. I guess the question here would be "Will the good wolf let the bad wolf starve and die?". If you think about it, the good wolf represents love, compassion, empathy, kindness, hope etc., and these will not allow the other wolf to die, no matter how bad. I would think that the purpose of battle for the good wolf is to uphold the virtues it represents rather than defeating the bad wolf or even letting it die. If the Good wolf lets the Bad wolf starve, suffer and die, it would have failed to uphold the virtues of compassion, empathy, and love. If that happens, will the Good wolf still be considered Good? 

Another train of thought is, how do you know which wolf you are feeding? In a world where everything is black and white, and there is a clear distinction between good and bad, it is easier to realize which wolf is being fed. In the world we live in, there are an infinite shades of grey between black and white, an no clear distinction between good and bad. There are very fundamental deeds that can be easily classified as good and bad. At the same time there are choices you make on a daily basis where good and bad are not easily distinguishable. In situations like these, the battles are intense and unknowingly you have fed the Bad wolf and helped it defeat the Good wolf.