St Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolves Analysis

In her short story, “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves”, Karen Russell develops the progression of the characters in relation to The Jesuit Handbook on Lycanthropic Culture Shock. The characters, young girls raised as wolves, are compared to the handbook in hopes they will adapt to the human culture. The girls’ progression throughout the 5 set stages by the handbook are vital to adapting to the new culture in the time allotted. The main character, Claudette, is compared throughout the story. Claudette’s actions align well with the 5 stages, but she has outbursts that remind her of her former self. In Stage One, Claudette perfectly aligns with the standards the handbook sets. The handbook says that the girls should experience new
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 of improvements. 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 should continue to develop to where she doesn’t compare herself to an animal. 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 sets for her. Claudette does begin to get more self-confidence and independence in Stage Four. She “ignored [Jeanette] and continued down the hall. [She] had only four more hours to perfect the Sausalito. [She] was worried only about [herself]”(241). Claudette was not going to risk failing to help someone else when she was so close to finishing. At this stage, the girls are beginning to become more independent and feeling less as a pack as they did in Stage One. In
The girls should be able to fully understand the host culture and be able to easily move between the two cultures, according to the handbook(246). Claudette exceeds at being able to fully understand the host culture, but struggles in easily being able to move between the two cultures. In Stage One, Claudette resented her parents for sending her and the rest of the pack to St. Lucy’s. But, as time progressed, she began to enjoy staying at the home and became accustomed to the new culture. In fact, as the Claudette “crunched through the fall leaves in silence, every step made [her] sadder”, even though she was going home(246). The new culture she has learned has become a way of life and she was not ready to go back home. She had worked for months trying to come back home; now that it is time to come home, she was not ready to go. In fact, when she got home she said “telling [her] first human lie. ‘I’m home’”(246). Although she was home, where she had worked so hard to be, she was finding it difficult to adapt back to the wolves’ culture. She had adopted so well to the host culture that her own “mother recoiled from [her] as if [she] were a stranger”(246). Claudette fully understands the new culture, but still finds it difficult to move between the two cultures. The Jesuit Handbook on Lycanthropic Culture Shock mostly aligns with the actions of Claudette throughout the five stages. The handbook