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“St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” by Karen Russell is a story about Claudette and her pack of wolf sisters learning how to adapt to the human society. Claudette starts off the program with a mentality of a wolf, like the rest of the girls. As she progresses into individual stages, she starts to change and adapt towards different characteristics of the human mentality. She shows good progress towards the human side based on what the Jesuit Handbook of Lycanthropia Culture Shock describes on behalf of what is suspected of the girls. But at the end of the story, Claudette is not fully adapted to the human society and mentality.
Beginning in Stage 1 epigraph, it does not describe the baseline progression standard that is
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expected of the students but Claudette does show some already existing human characteristics. At first Claudette and the pack felt alien towards the new place so they “remedied this by spraying exuberant yellow steams all over the bunks”(Russell,237). Later on, when the nuns were trying to put name tags on the girls, the “pack ran in a loose, uncertain circle”(Russell,239). This shows that the pack is not yet adapted to the human culture and thus treated this new culture as their old one, including Claudette. But Claudette at the end of the stage describes how it took the nuns two hours to catch Mirabella and put the name tag on her; “It took them two hours to pin her down and tag her: HELLO, MY NAME IS MIRABELLA!”(Russell,239). Claudette, since she points out this fact, is showing her already present human characteristics or fairly say that she is not that wolf-like. For the most part, she is still in favor of the wolf culture in Stage 1. The epigraph of Stage 2 says that the students will start to realize that they now have to work in order to adapt; “students realize that they must work to adjust to the new culture”(Russell,239).
Straight-off, Claudette describes that it felt “disorienting” to adapt to the new human fashion of wearing shoes, followed by her disciplining herself to keep the shoes on her feet; “I remember how disorienting it was to look down and see two square-toed shoes instead of my own four feet” with “keep your shoes on your feet. Mouthshut, shoes on feet”(Russell,240). This example shows that Claudette realized that it is going to be hard to adapt. Also it says “But we knew we couldn't return to the woods; not till we were civilized”(Russell,240), which confirms the fact she is trying to adapt and not forced to do it. At the end of the stage, Claudette encountered Mirabella who was using body language to ask her to lick her wounds but Claudette refused; “She was covered with splinters” then she was making a “whining noise through her nostrils. Of course I understood what she wanted” and Claudette responded : “lick your own wounds”(Russell,244). With her actions, she shows that she is above what is expected of her in stage
2. Stage 3 epigraph says: “students who start living in a new and different culture come to a point where they reject the host culture and withdraw into themselves”(Russell,244). Claudette does not show this in Stage 3 but some of the other people in the pack like Mirabella does show this behavior. Claudette instead engages in a wolf-like interaction; “we grinned back at them with genuine ferocity”(Russell,245). And unexpectedly accepted the “host culture”; “I slunk into the closet and practiced the Sauslito two-step in secret, a private mass of twitch and foam. Mouth shut-shoes on feet! Mouth shut-shoes on feet!”(Russell,246). Which is the complete opposite of what was expected of the students in Stage 3. Furthermore, supports the idea that Claudette is above average of the pack. The epigraph of stage 4, says that the “students will begin to feel more comfortable in their new environment” resulting in “their self-confidence” growing (Russell,247). Claudette's first example of this is when she refused to help Jeanette when Mirabella attacked her; “Claudette, help me, she yelped. Mirabella had closed her jaws around Jeanette's bald ankle” and Claudette's action was “I ignored her and continued down the hall”(Russell,248). When the Sausalito started, Claudette was terrified since she did not know the steps; “Lucy's had vanished, and I was just a terrified animal again”(Russell,249). Claudette then went and asked Jeanette for the steps but Jeanette refused; “What are the steps? I mouthed”..... “Not for you, she mouthed back”(Russell,250). But with luck, Mirabella jumped on Claudette thus saving her skill points; “I was about to lose all my Skill Points”... “Mirabella had intercepted my eye-cry for help”(Russell,250). This shows that Claudette did not know the steps therefore she was not fully adapted to what the sisters expected. In Stage 5 epigraph, it says that “they find it easy to move between the two cultures”(Russell,251). Claudette shows this by describing how she wore her “best dress and brought along some prosciutto and drill pickles in a picnic basket”(Russell,251). Then showing that she excepts the wolf-like interaction between her and her mother to proceed unlike with Mirabella need for her wounds to be licked; “She sniffed me for a long moment. Then she sank her teeth into my ankle, looking proud and sad”(Russell,252). This shows that she is not fully adapted to the human culture since she let a wolf-like interaction to proceed unlike with Mirabella were she did not let a wolf like interaction to proceed. At the end, Claudette said “So, I said, telling my first human lie. I'm home”(Russell,252). She pretty much says that she doesn't consider coming back home as actually coming back home since she is a human now In conclusion, Claudette does show good adaptation towards the human culture and society throughout individual stages, but in the end of the story, she doesn't show full adaptation to the human culture and mentality. In the last stage, Claudette said “So, I said, telling my first human lie. I'm home”(Russell,252). She pretty much says that she doesn't consider coming back home as actually coming back home since she is a human now, in other words, she does not except her new human culture and would rather be in her wolf culture. Furthermore in Stage 2, Claudette says:“But we knew we couldn't return to the woods; not till we were civilized”(Russell,240). She wanted to come back to her old life in the woods right after she became civilized. Therefore supporting the fact that when she said ,“So, I said, telling my first human lie. I'm home”(Russell,252), she really meant to say that she does not except her new human culture and would rather be in her wolf culture in the woods. Also in the last stage, Claudette's mother interacted with Claudette in a wolf like manner and Claudette was fine with it, but in Stage 2, Claudette refused to engage in a wolf like interaction with Mirabella and licking her wounds. Why would Claudette let a wolf-like interaction proceed if she considered herself a full human?
“Why the Beaver Should Thank the Wolf” by Mary Ellen Hannibal, explains the impact wolves carry if they are ever extinct. Hannibal uses scientific data to explain to the audience the important a wolf has in the wild. Hannibal points out how fragile the food chain is, and when one player is out the who system tumbles down. Hannibal connects the action of the wolves in the wild and how it trickles down the food chain.
“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.
In the second epigraph in the short story “St. Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised By wolves’’ by Karen Russell discusses how it’s not easy going from a wolf to being a human. The girls must work hard and try their all to make it. They feel like they don’t belong there, it’s like going from a small school to a big school. They day dream of their old way of life. They feel uncomfortable and depressed.
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
A wolf pack is, at its foundation, simply a family, with the parents (alphas) guiding the activities of the group. Hence, it is easy to believe that dogs are able to bond with human families, especially when the alphas are already parents. The parents view the dog as one of their children, one who remains dependent and will never leave or criticize them (Rogers 1), and in the same manner, the dog views the human parents as if they were his actual parents and as a result, loves and trusts them with his life gladly following them, not once questioning their decisions or actions. For these reasons, humans have found release in the company of dogs because dogs do not judge. By way of example, Sigmund Freud was notably a bad singer and as a result, never sang in public, however he often hummed an aria while petting his dog (Rogers 2). In the presence of dogs, our need to self-censor our words and actions vanishes (Rogers 2). Ultimately, dogs and human beings are able to form such strong emotional bonds through love and
To begin, it is clear that Claudette is facing some struggles as she transitions from her lycanthropic culture to humanity. First of all, Claudette finds it hard to “be civilized and ladylike, couth and kempt” as she says, “We tore through the austere rooms, overturning dresser drawers, pawing through the neat piles of the Stage 3 girls’ starched underwear, smashing lightbulbs with our bare fists.” This shows that Claudette is having a hard time acting like humans when she has been raised like a wolf
The arrival of new people into America brought economic and cultural strains upon the natives’ way of life. The natives’ ability to adapt to fit the new needs of the country, and the United States governments willingness to work easily with the natives showed that the country was capable of standing and growing. Young Wolf was present during this time of adaptation and willingness in America as a Cherokee Indian, so through the use of his last will and testament we can see the cultural changes occurring at this time. Throughout Young Wolf’s Last Will and Testament you see the changes within tradition, innovation and European-American culture. Young Wolf showed the cultural changes present at his time and he demonstrated how the Cherokees were forced to mold into new European-American cultures while still holding true to a few of their own traditions.
The six stages that Kohlberg defines are grouped into three levels, with two levels at each stage. They are grouped as follows:
Most people will never see a grey wolf but they live in many different kinds of places. A grey wolf’s range covers most of North America. Grey Wolves got their name because they have thick grey fur. Wolves prefer to eat animals with hooves and smaller animals like muskrats. The grey wolf is a fascinating creature to study.
For the characters in Angela Carter's “The Company of Wolves,” danger lurks in the the grey areas, the ambiguous spaces between opposites. The plethora of socially constructed binaries—male and female, passive and active, innocence and maturity, civilization and wilderness, man and wolf—have the ability to be harmful and restrictive, but perhaps more worryingly, they create an ill-defined middle ground between where the rules are vague and fluid, which allows for dishonesty and deception, and Carter foregrounds the resultant proliferation of untruths as the real peril. One vehicle for clear and honest communication, however, is the narrator's changing characterization of the
Power allows people to do anything they want. They can use it in different ways, they can tell people to obey them, they can use it to hurt someone they hate, and even rob. They can also use it in a positive way, they can help people and do a lot of good things with it.
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
Russell, Karen. “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves”. Comp. John Schilb and John Clifford. Making Literature Matter. Print.
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.
The Werewolves of Society Over the past several hundred years, werewolves have been an important part of Western cultures. Werewolves have appeared in blockbuster movies and been the subject of countless books and stories. Werewolves are dark and powerful creatures that terrify us on multiple levels. While they are some of the most violent and merciless monsters that horror has to offer, there is something about the werewolf that we can identify with.