In Karen Russell’s “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” the protagonist, Claudette, struggles with assimilating into a new culture while in “Lusus Naturae” by Margaret Atwood, the narrator fights to live on her own away from her family and loved ones. Though these conflicts seem hard on the characters, their growth throughout the stories helps readers to view them sympathetically. The narrator of “Lusus Naturae” lives with a disease and is eventually exiled from her home and forced to live in the wilderness on her own. Every day she watches her family grow and go through life without her. In “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves,” a group of girl wolves enrolled in a private school were taught by religious nuns and must complete …show more content…
Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves,” Karen Russell writes about a group of girls that are integrating into a new and exciting culture. At the beginning of the story it explains, “Stage 1: The initial period is one in which everything is new, exciting, and interesting for your students. It is fun for your students to explore their new environment” (Russell 237). Claudette, the narrator of the story, informs the readers of what the girls were like when first arriving to St. Lucy’s. 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” (Russell 237-238). Russell uses this line to show us how each of the girls come into St. Lucy’s as ignorant and unaware of their surroundings. Slowly, with rehearsal and practice, each girl should receive adequate training and be fluent in knowing another culture. Claudette experiences conflict throughout the story. She faces challenges such as learning new languages and using critical thinking skills. Not only does she have to learn and merge herself into a new culture, but she also has competition with those who acquire certain skills quicker. By the end of their time at St. Lucy’s, Claudette and all her classmates must reach, “Stage 5: At this point your students are able to interact effectively in the new cultural environment. They find it easy to move between the two cultures” (Russell …show more content…
Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” and “Lusus Naturae” were challenging and tough on the main characters as well as the additional characters. In Russell’s story “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” Claudette overcomes her conflict. She grows and progresses throughout the story in a way that some of the other characters do not. Claudette was able to adapt and immerse herself in a novel and stimulated culture. However in “Lusus Naturae” Margaret Atwood portrays her narrator as having an unpleasant disease. This disease causes her to be drawn away from her family. Considering the unfortunate events, the narrator continues to grow and evolve throughout the narrative. Knowing how much each of these characters grew throughout the span of each of their stories, it helps readers to view them