Wolves and Wierdos

This week, I found a most fascinating story to write about in my short story project. I came upon the story while flipping through Mr. Coon’s book, The Best American Short Stories of 2007. I was immediately drawn to it because of the title, “St. Lucy’s School for Girls Raised by Wolves.” The story is told in the first person, from the point of view of Claudette, or “Trrr”, a wolf-girl raised by werewolf parents. Although her parents were werewolves, she and her sisters were human girls because the condition skips a generation. Claudette and her sisters are sent to St. Lucy’s by their parents “because they wanted something better for [them]” (326). This story details their time at St. Lucy’s from when they arrive “all hair and snarl and floor-thumping joy” to when they graduate, civilized and able to live among humans (325).

I enjoyed this story for several reasons. The first is my fascination with wolves. The wolf has always been one of my favorite animals especially when I was younger. Many of my favorite novels growing up--- Call of the Wild, White Fang, Julie of the Wolves, and The Sight--- were about wolves. I was so drawn to wolves that I designed and maintained a role play website with Tori Hussey in middle school. Reading this story reminded me of my childhood fascination with wolves. This story also reminded me of a non-fiction book I stumbled on while trying pass time in supervised study in middle school. The book was the real-life story of two boys who were raised by wolves and then captured and raised in a nearby convent. The wolf-boys had been unable to adapt to human society and eventually remained in a type of captivity at the convent until their deaths. Although the title “St. Lucy’s School for Girls Raised by Wolves” might lead the reader to believe the content is heavy and serious, the story actually has a light and humorous tone and does not have a dark and tragic ending. I also enjoyed reading this story because of the writing style of Karen Russell. I loved her unusual words and phrases she created to describe the different characters in the story-- “hirsute and sinewy” to describe the wolf-girls; “nervous-smelling” to describe their social worker; and “apple-cheeked” to describe the little girls that came to St. Lucy’s to play with the wolf sisters. I am excited that I will be writing my short story project on “St. Lucy’s School for Girls Raised by Wolves.”

Now a few words about one of this weeks short stories; “Cathedral” was the only story I enjoyed reading this week. However, I thought it was a most unusual and bizarre narrative. The first odd aspect was the emotional interplay of the characters: a middle aged blind man who is newly widowed, but does not really seem to be grieving and his long time female friend, who have a rather odd history together, as well as her second husband who does not seem to be on great terms with her, and is most awkward with his blind guest. Furthermore, the scenes of these three middle aged people sitting down to smoke a joint and conversation with a blind man about black and white TV’s and color TV’s added to the oddity of the situation. I found it difficult to understand what could make a person so uncomfortable with someone’s blindness, but this was perhaps a thought provoking look into unusual prejudices. I think I would feel empathy towards someone who is blind, not discomfort, but I wonder if the husband’s reaction is perhaps more common. Nevertheless I enjoyed this story regardless of its oddity. (615)