Analysis Of St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolves

In the vein of most coming of age stories, there is a distinct change in Claudette during the course of St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves. Though it should be noted, her lycanthropic to human transition is a bit out of the ordinary from typical stories of teenagerhood. Regardless of this notable difference, there is a maturation, and it can be seen progressing easily through the stages. Claudette's development can be tracked in direct correlation the stages she's in at the home for girls.

Stage one is, in a way, Claudette's baseline, her start. At this point, she has not even started to adapt to humanity, she is simply the same girl-wolf she was, the only thing that's changed is her physical location. We can tell this based on her

It is at this point that she really realizes that she needs to work to survive. Fear and discomfort drive this stage. Claudette introduces herself to a mantra to keep herself safe, "Mouth shut, shoes on feet." (229) She also notes that the entire pack was, "irritated, bewildered, depressed [...] uncomfortable and between languages." (229) These two things together show that she is working, but that everything is very difficult. Nothing is simple or easy. She does still at this point refer to the pack more than herself, but she does sometimes exclude certain members, like Jeanette and Mirabella, showing a bit more separation in this stage as compared to it's predecessor. Overall, it's a difficult and slow start to

She shows no sign of her history, she doesn't repeat her mantra at all. She visits her family, and her removal from that type of life is evident in the juxtaposition between their life and hers. She goes to their cave wearing her, "best dress and brought along some dill pickles and prosciutto in a picnic basket." (246) In contrast, she walks in on her family eating. They all, "looked up from the bull moose at the same time, my aunts and uncles, my sloe-eyed, lolling cousins, the parents." (246) There are two key differences in them and her. The most obvious is their choice of food. Hers is human, civil, theirs is an animal they savagely chased and killed. But also significant is her being alone. It shows that they are a family, a pack, and she is disconnected, self-sufficient. At this point she is human. This becomes even more clear when she tells them that she's home, revealing this to be her, "first human lie" (246). All this together shows how far she's come, dropping wild habits, mantras, and family to become not a wolf-girl, but just a