St Kucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolves Analysis

In Karen Russell’s short story, “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves”, she develops the progression of the characters in relation to The Jesuit Handbook on Lycanthropic Culture Shock. The characters, young girls raised as if they were wolves, are compared to the handbook with optimism that they will adapt to the host culture. The girls’ progression in the five set stages are critical to their development at St. Lucy’s. The author compares Claudette, the narrator, to the clear expectations the handbook sets for the girls’ development. Claudette’s actions align well with the five stages, but she has outbursts that remind her of her former self. In Stage One, Claudette exceeds the standards the handbook sets. The handbook says that
The handbook says that the girls should begin working towards the main goal: adapting to the human culture. During this stage, they will miss certain aspects of their past lives. They will daydream a lot and may seep into a stage of depression or feel isolated from the rest of the world (229). During this stage, Claudette seems to be in a daze; everything is surreal to her. The nuns expect her to long to adhere to the host culture throughout the process, especially when she craves to be with the pack. “Those were the days when [the girls] dreamed of rivers and meat. The full-moon nights were the worst! Worse than cold toilet seats and boiled tomatoes, worse than trying to will [their] tongues to curl around [their] false new names” (230). Claudette began to daydream about the life she once lived. In Stage One, Claudette acted as if she were still living in the woods with the pack. At this point, she is daydreaming of those days, but not acting as if she still lives in it. Claudette is still showing improvement, but has moments that she results back to her wolf- like stage to interact with her other siblings. When Mirabella, Claudette’s sister, tried to take her bread, Claudette continued to bite at her shoulder, resulting back to her old wolf-like self (234). Claudette could not control her actions and innermost feelings towards Mirabella, resulting in an outburst that compelled Claudette
The handbook says that in Stage Four the girls should begin to understand the ideals of the host culture. Their self-confidence will grow and the girls will feel as though this is their new home (240). Although Claudette does meet most of this, she still has areas warranting improvement. Since the girls should be able to act in a exceptional manner in a social setting, the nuns created a debutante ball for the girls at the end of their stay. Before it was time for Claudette to dance, she began to panic. For instance, Claudette describes that “in a flash of white-hot light, [her] months at St. Lucy’s had vanished, and [she] was just a terrified animal again” (243). Throughout her stay at St. Lucy’s, Claudette continues to develop and no longer compares herself to an animal. Claudette no longer considers herself as an animal, something she has always believed she was. Even though Claudette has progressed since Stage One, she still has moments that she resorts to her old wolf-like ways. When Claudette was upset, her “jaws [were] gaping open, [her] tongue [was] lolling out of the left side of [her] mouth” (243). This does not show that Claudette understands the ideals that the nuns at St. Lucy’s have instilled in her and the standards the handbook has set for her. Claudette does begin to obtain more self-confidence and independence in Stage Four. While practicing for the school dance, the Sausalito,