Close Reading: St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves Excerpt: “… Not great not terrible, solidly middle of the pack… I probably could have vied with Jeanette for the number-one spot… This wasn’t like the woods, where you had to be your fastest…self. Different sorts of calculations were required to survive...” (Russell 233). Through the first person narration in this story, readers can uncover the thoughts and feelings of the main character, and even some universal truths this text has to offer. The main character in this story, doubling as the narrator is named Claudette. This name is given to her by the sisters at St. Lucy’s in their attempts to civilize a “pack” of girls who have been brought up as if they are the offspring of wolves. The majority of the girls are compliant with learning the new ways, however some learned slower and some progressed much faster. Jeanette is the eldest of this group of girls and she has earned the rank of a teacher’s pet, as some may say. Her quick-to-comply nature makes the sisters in the home rather fond of Jeanette; her sisters from her old life as a wolf begin to resent her. Claudette reveals a profound level of intelligence by stating, “I …show more content…
She recognizes the threat of not progressing and being dismissed from the home. She finds a larger hazard when she sees how Jeanette’s progression has caused the girls to ostracize her. Claudette’s choice
Claudette felt superior to the purebred girls and made fun of their appearance and names. Because of this, Claudette “felt sorry for them” and “wondered what it would be like to be bred in captivity, and always homesick for a dimly sensed forest, the trees you’ve never seen” (237). Claudette felt that her wolf culture was far superior to the behaviors and actions of the human culture. As the Claudette begins to settle into the new environment, her attitudes towards the host culture dwindle and begins to feel more
Jeanette “was the most successful of [the pack], the one furthest removed from her origins” (232). Because of her progress, she differed from the epigraph, not reacting as negatively to the new environment as the rest of the pack. For example, most of the wolves cringed at the new smells they experienced, but “Jeanette smiled and pretended like she couldn’t smell a thing” (232). This has both a literal and figurative meaning in the text, as it represents how well Jeanette was able to adapt in most circumstances, not just to new smells. However, there were times when even Jeanette suffered the trials described in the epigraph.
This proves itself by how Claudette took on a large dose of self-confidence and independence. At the installation of the fourth section, Claudette ignored Jeanette’s need for help and continued with what she needed to accomplish for herself to be successful at the time. Claudette’s confidence and independence shows her understanding of situations and comfort in her new life. Further along in the fourth stage, when the Debutante Ball began, Claudette had her hair swept “back into high, bouffant hairstyles” and was “wearing a white organdy dress with orange polka dots” while eating fancy hors d’œuvres (Russell 242). This display of comportement further shows her confidence and acclimation to the human culture through her ability to stand the high class situation.
Jeannette narrowly escapes rape, but because her father exploits her in a way that makes it seem like she would consent to underage sex, she is abused. The sexual abuse Jeannette suffers results in her having more trust in her own intuition as she
In “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves”, Claudette, Mirabella, and Jeanette is taken to a foreign place to adapt to human nature. They are taken through the process of 5 stages of becoming human. Claudette, the speaker of the story, is stuck between two faces, the human and the wolf face. While Claudette is in between these two worlds, she has fully conformed from wolf to human. She has completed the transformation from wolf to human because her own mother doesn 't recognize her, trying to make herself seem more like human, and not even caring about her own fellow wolf mates anymore.
and she acts like a good student it is only because of the school’s expectations. Claudette wants to return back to her wolf culture so she pretends to have
People who endure dislocation feel out of place and have many mixed emotions. Karen Russell’s “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves,” tells the story of a group of girls who suffer from lycanthropy including Jeanette, Claudette, and Mirabella. The “pack” of girls go through many stages to rehabilitate to their human identity. The girls experience culture shock and have to work as they progress through the stage.
Claudette was able to lie to her parents, showing that she had completely learned human nature and culture. Technically, she was showing what she had learned to them. She was able to lie, which showed that she had learned a lot about human nature, and how it
Saint Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves Saint Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, by Karen Russell, is a fictional short story about lycanthropism and forced assimilation into human culture. The main character is Claudette. It is unknown if Claudette has been fully assimilated into human society. There are multiple points in the story that prove that Claudette has not been fully assimilated. This essay discusses why Claudete isn’t fully assimilated.
In the story, “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves”, the author, Karen Russell, uses feral diction to establish that although people strive for perfectionism in their lives, people cannot become someone or something that they are not, thus causing a loss of identity. Russell uses feral diction in “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” to prove that people cannot change who the are. For example, Kyle tried to talk to Claudette, but just succeeded in annoying her instead. Claudette immediately reacted and, according to the story, “I narrowed my eyes at Kyle and flattened my ears, something I hadn’t done for months” (249).
The girls had a hard time adjusting throughout the 5 stages of the program. They were given new names, new scents, new language, new clothes, and many others new ideas to adjust to. While adjusting, the girls often felt depressed, isolated, and uncomfortable. In the beginning they wanted to run away from St. Lucy’s as fast as they could because it was extremely difficult. But they felt as if they had no one or nowhere to run back to.
In the short story, “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves,” written by Karen Russell, a pack of wolf girls leave their home in the woods for St. Lucy’s in order to be able to live in human society. Within the story, Russell has included epigraphs before each stage from The Jesuit Handbook for Lycanthropic Culture Shock. This handbook was for the nuns at St. Lucy’s to help guide their students. Karen Russell included the epigraphs, short quotations at the beginning of a chapter intended to suggest a theme, from the handbook to help the reader understand what the characters might be feeling or how they will act in a certain stage. In Stage One, the epigraph closely relates to the characters’ development, yet doesn’t consider that the girls could be fearful in their new home due to interactions with the nuns.
in the story ”St. Lucy 's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” by Karen Russell, Claudette undergoes a difficult and overstimulating experience trying to be retaught so she can join the human world. It is clear that Claudette has most definitely adapted to the human world and it’s civilized background. The pack would have been ostracized by both the wolfs and the humans if not for her parents wanting better for them. In the beginning, Claudette was very good at reading the foreign language,”But I had an ear for languages, and I could read before I could adequately wash myself.
In Stage One, Claudette exceeds the standards the handbook sets. The handbook says that the girls will experience new things, full of curiosity and wonder of what is to come (225). Claudette exceeds this description, along with most other members of the pack. Throughout Stage One, each member of the pack has great curiosity of their surroundings, leaving a destruct wake in their path. The girls “tore through the austere rooms, overturning dresser drawers, pawing through the neat piles of the Stage 3 girls’ starched underwear, [and smashed] light bulbs with [their] bare fists” (225).
Claire Standish is labeled “The Princess” of the group as she is rich, beautiful, and possibly the most popular female at her school. Many people assume her life is perfect and a dream when in reality her parents are on the verge of a divorce. They use, pamper, and indulge her in order to spite each other and Claire is painfully aware of this. The group initially see Claire as a “snobby stuck up bitch” assuming she is solely shallow and materialistic.