“St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” by Karen Russell is about a group of girls who are sent to a school, St. Lucy’s Home for Girls, where they are taught the human culture and eradicated of their wolf culture. Claudette, the narrator, is in the middle of the pack throughout the story and is able to do what is expected of her in that stage of lycanthropic culture shock. She is able to adapt quickly and do what is required from her. Although she is able to adapt, she has wolf tendencies embedded in her that cannot diminish which causes her to not be able to fully adapt by the end of the story. In Stage 1, the epigraph states that “everything is new, exciting, and interesting for your students. It is fun for your students to explore their new environment” (pg. 237). Claudette shows adaption in Stage 1 when the story says “the deacon handed out some stale cupcakes” which …show more content…
shows how the girls are beginning to eat human ‘foods’ (pg. 237). Also, Claudette says she interred sticks, and our itchy new jumpers” which tells the reader that Claudette begins to wear clothes (pg. 238). She had not adapted when she clamped down on her ankle” referring to Sister Josephine’s ankle (pg. 237). She also “jumped from bunk to bunk, spraying” which shows her wolf identity (pg. 237). Her development mataches the epigraph in a way when “everything is new” to Claudette and that she appeared to be enjoying running around on the school grounds (pg. 237). In Stage 2, the epigraph states that “your students realize that they must work to adjusts to their culture”, that “they may spend a lot of time daydreaming”, and that they “feel isolated… or generally uncomfortable” (pg.239). Claudette adapts during this stage because she wore “two squared-toes shoes” (pg. 240). She also told Mirabella to “lick your own wounds” which shows she is becoming more individualized (pg. 244). She proves she has not adapted fully to this stage when she “drank gallons of bathwater” to try to mark her territory in the rooms (pg. 240). Claudette excessive reminders to keep her “mouth shut, shoes on feet” tell the reader that she is uncomfortable with shoes (pg. 240). Claudette’s development matches the epigraph when she says “those were the days when we daydreamed of rivers and meat” and “the whole pack was irritated, bewildered, depressed. We were all uncomfortable” [sic] which the epigraph specifically states (pgs. 239,240). In Stage 3, the epigraph states that the girls will “make generalizations about the host culture and wonder how the people can live like they do” and they “may feel that their own culture’s lifestyle and customs are far superior to those of the host culture” (pg.
244). Claudette adjusts to change in Stage 3 when she “took dainty bites of peas and borscht” proving her sophistication improvement (pg. 244). She began to lose her wolf identity when she was “struggling to conjure up a picture” of her mother because she was moving on (pg. 247). Claudette does not completely adjust in this stage because she was “nervous to meet new humans” (pg. 245). She was also unprepared to “dance with the brothers” proving her uncertainty in her skills. Claudette’s behavior matched the epigraph because she wondered how the purebred girls could live in captivity. She also felt that her wolf culture’s life style was superior when she says that the purebred girls were “always homesick for a dimly sensed forest” assuming that they actually missed being in a forest they never actually lived in or missed (pg.
245). In Stage 4, the epigraph states that “your students will begin to feel more comfortable” and that “their self-confidence grows” (pg. 247). Claudette is able to adapt when she attempted to mask her “natural, feral scent” by rubbing “a pumpkin muffin” all over her body (pg. 249). She also adapted when she reacted furious with Mirabella when Mirabella jumped on her to protect Claudette rather than fall to the temptation of thanking her. She was unable to adapt when she was unable to converse with Kyle about a variety of subjects because she “had only gotten up to Unit 7: Party Dialogue” (pg.248). She also had the inability to do the Sausalito under the spotlight and that she “was a terrified animal again” (pg. 249). Her development in this stage does not match the epigraph. The epigraph states that the students will become more confident in themselves but when the band “struck up a tune” for the Sausalito, Claudette was not confident and attempted to “skulk off into Mirabella’s corner” (pg. 249). In Stage 5, the epigraph states that “your students are able to interact effectively” and that “they find it easy to move between the two cultures” (pg. 251). Claudette adapts within this stage when she “brought along some prosciutto and dill pickles” which are sophisticated, human foods (pg. 251). She also adapts because she was able to tell her “first human lie” without any speech problems (pg. 252). She does not adapt when she says “every step made me sadder” which tells the reader that she misses her wolf culture (pg. 251). She also tells her parents a lie because she did not want to hurt her family and lied to protect them from the truth. She matches the epigraph because she was able to go to her family which expresses her wolf identity and also watched as her family ate a blue elm without having any relapses which shows that she is able to easily move between both cultures. By the end of the story, Claudette had not entirely given up her wolf culture or entirely adapted to the human culture. She does not feel fully comfortable in either culture. When she entered the cave, she did not recognize her home because she said “the cave looked so much smaller than I remembered it” which means she does not feel comfortable with being in the cave and she does not feel truly at ‘home’ (pg. 251). She is not comfortable with her human culture because she had come to visit her family which means she never gave up her wolf identity and she still believes her family is still her family even though she has changed. Although she is able to easily move between both cultures with ease, she is unable to truly give up either culture and in each society, tendencies from the other culture will slip through and she cannot do anything to change this.
When Marie tries to ask the protagonist to take a walk, this action shows that she is trying to achieve Pauline’s dream by getting her outside of the house. Therefore, she could finally feel the true meaning of freedom. Nevertheless, Pauline’s mother’s response demonstrates that she wants her daughter’s safety more than anything. The mother tries to keep Pauline away from the danger, so the protagonist can at last have a healthier life. However, Agathe’s reply shows that her mother is willing to sacrifice Pauline’s dream to keep her secure. Therefore, the author uses contrasting characters to mention that safety is more valuable. Furthermore, the protagonist starts to describe Tante Marie and reveals that she always has her hair “around her shoulder” (85). When Pauline describes Marie, Pauline shows how her Tante is open-minded. In fact, Marie helps Pauline to let go of her limitations and to get a taste of her dream. Therefore, Marie always wants Pauline to go outside and play hockey or even to take a walk. These actions that Pauline’s Tante takes show how she is determinate to make Pauline’s dream come true. Thus, the author
Kek, the main character in Katherine Applegate’s Home of The Brave, struggles to find belonging as a Sudanese refugee living in Minnesota. Kek tries to help hope win the battle between fear, and successfully, during Part Two of the story, Kek begins to make some forward progress. But Keks cycle of belonging has not ended, and I am sad to say that Kek is still alienated from America as much as he belongs in America.
“St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves”, by Karen Russell is the story of a pack of human girls who were born of werewolves. They are taken from their families in the wilderness and brought to a St. Lucy’s. It was here that they were to be civilized. The process of civilization involved stripping them of their personal and cultural identities and retraining them in a manner that was acceptable to the human world. This is a close analogy to the Residential Schools of Cultural Assimilation for native Americans from 1887 to the early 1950’s.
She’s just so weak. If she would stand up for herself, no one would bother her. It’s her own fault that people pick on her, she needs to toughen up. “Shape of a Girl” by Joan MacLeod, introduces us to a group of girls trying to “fit in” in their own culture, “school.” This story goes into detail about what girls will do to feel accepted and powerful, and the way they deal with everyday occurrences in their “world.” Most of the story is through the eyes of one particular character, we learn about her inner struggles and how she deals with her own morals. This story uses verisimilitude, and irony to help us understand the strife of children just wanting to fit in and feel normal in schools today.
Towards the middle of the memoir, the theme is shown through the irony of Jeannette’s mother’s situation as well as Jeannette’s feelings towards
There are many fictional elements that are important when it comes to short stories. These elements help the reader understand the story in more depth, and help to gain a better understanding of what the author’s purpose is. One of these elements is setting. Setting is the time and place in which a story takes place, it can help determine the mood, influence how characters’ act, change the dialog in the story and can reflect how the characters interact in society. In the short story, “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” the setting is a very important element to show the development of the girls and how they changed throughout the story. There are two different places which we consider the setting. There is the church and the cave. With these two different settings we see different lessons being taught in each
In the short story Doe Season, by David Michael Kaplan, the nine-year-old protagonist, Andrea, also known as Andy, the tomboy goes out on a hunting trip and endures many different experiences. The theme of coming of age and the struggle most children are forced to experience when faced with the reality of having to grow up and leave childhood behind is presented in this story. Many readers of this story only see a girl going hunting with her father, his friend Charlie, and son Mac, because she wants to be one of the guys. An important aspect of the story that is often overlooked is that Andy is going hunting because she doesn't want to become a woman because she is afraid of the changes that will occur in her body.
For this story it isn't very warm towards the woman in this story. It's very amusing how they gave the certain role to a woman. Very amusing. This story is mostly about a Coyote trying to make amends with the chief buffalo but then betrays his trust and is followed by consequences. In the middle of the story they coyote is enjoying his meal, when a old woman walks up to him saying "Sin-ka-lip", "you are a brave warrior, a great chief. Why should you do woman's work? Let me cook the bones while you rest." The coyote was flattered, believing she spoke her true mind, as he got settled and relaxed he saw the old lady running away with his meal. In this story, I think its implying that the woman was the devil shaming the wolf by taking what he's taken , but that's not right. The attitude towards the woman is false that she was bad that she acted like a man. In this society it expected the woman to make the food and give it to the coyote, not run off with it. The social change was how the woman double crossed the coyote, out thought him and then out ran him with the food, coyote thinking he can catch her because she's measly woman. This book was very interesting the message of the story was easy to understand and means a lot to a person if he/she understands it. But the part of the woman was very surprising and how they thought the woman should act in that
Our class has been reading a book called “Brown Girl Dreaming” for the past two weeks. The author, Jacqueline Woodson talks about her life growing up. For example she talks about how her mom and dad divorced when she was young. She talks about how she moves to Greenville and how her grandpa is like a dad figure, and how her mother came back with a pale skinned baby after she went to New York. Character traits make up a person, and while reading the book, you can see what Jacqueline is like during her childhood. Jacqueline has many character traits, such as being jealous of her older sister, being naive, and she is also respectful.
He had not visited since.” (10, Chevalier) Frans chose to live his own life instead of nurse his father. Griet chose to do what the society had expected of her as a woman. She had to take care of the cooking and cleaning and help her mother with the sowing and comforting her father. She had to be the good Protestant girl that never disobeyed and rarely strayed from her course as a poor girl in the Netherlands. She had to respect the choices that her parents made for her and she had to respect her masters, but she was not expected to be given respect back. She was also expected to not have any thoughts or opinions on any matters concerning her work or her master's lives, but stay as obedient as a trained dog with no thoughts other than to please her masters. Griet has the choice to leave and become someone like Frans, but in the end, she chooses the safer and more expected choice of marrying Pieter. But the risk was inevitably too high since there was little to no opportunities for an eighteen-year-old girl in her time
At the age of ten, most children are dependent on their parents for everything in their lives, needing a great deal of attention and care. However, Ellen, the main character and protagonist of the novel Ellen Foster, exemplifies a substantial amount of independence and mature, rational thought as a ten-year-old girl. The recent death of her mother sends her on a quest for the ideal family, or anywhere her father, who had shown apathy to both she and her fragile mother, was not. Kaye Gibbons’ use of simple diction, unmarked dialogue, and a unique story structure in her first novel, Ellen Foster, allows the reader to explore the emotions and thoughts of this heroic, ten-year-old girl modeled after Gibbons’ own experiences as a young girl. Kaye Gibbons’ experiences as a child are the foundations for this.
To begin, Claudette struggles in many situations to try to adapt from the wolf society to the human society. Firstly, on page 226 Claudette says, “ I clamped down on her ankle, straining to close my jaws around the woolly XXL sock. Sister Josephine tasted like sweat and freckles. She smelled easy to kill.” In this example, the human society is foreign
Whether one would like to admit it or not, change is a difficult and not to mention uncomfortable experience which we all must endure at one point in our lives. A concept that everyone must understand is that change does not occur immediately, for it happens overtime. It is necessary for time to pass in order for a change to occur, be it days, weeks, months, or even years. The main character, who is also the narrator of “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves”, realizing that “things felt less foreign in the dark” (Russell 225), knows that she will be subject to change very soon. The author makes it evident to readers that the narrator is in a brand new environment as the story begins. This strange short story about girls raised by wolves being trained by nuns to be more human in character is a symbol for immigration, as the girls are forced to make major changes in their lives in order to fit in with their new environment and adapt to a new culture.
When the cats decide to go against the wolves in a war, their positions lose importance in a place where their lives are in danger. This makes the characters understand that it is futile to hold onto whatever prestige they hold. Arles, the leader of the wolves, is seen by the audience to not hold value in social statuses. When the wolves were banished and forced to flee, the people saw them as pests and below the hierarchy. He became aware that because his rank was removed, he just needed to do whatever it took for him and those he cared about to live. This is highlighted when he says “if I am going to die, I will take as many people as I can with me.” He says this in an encouraging tone towards the wolf pack. He also has a determined facial expression and has eye contact with all of the wolves. There is also the use of the colour purple on Arles’ clothes that symbolise his rank amongst the wolves. Even though wolves are at the bottom, Arles is able to lead the pack in order to support and encourage them. His willingness to save his people explores the fact that their change in their social standing has given them the push to survive despite their awful situation. Arles may not be true royalty, but his determination to keep fighting regardless of finding out that his rank as the “Silver Wolf of Salvation” portrays how characters are able to renew their perspectives from the upheaval of a
During the scene in the shoemaker's shop the reader learns about daughter Manette through description, actions, and her words. First off, we picture her slowly coming out of the darkness. Next she is described as young, with golden hair, and a dress. Her words are the main point of study, though. The reader has been drawn in by the first superficial description and now we expect that her words will build a strong character in Lucie. Her words however, may be important to the revival of Dr. Manette, but do not create a real, strong, true-to-life character. The comforting words are just a bad sentimental melodrama and she says, "weep for it, weep for it!," over and over.