Essay on St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves

The Process of Social Assimilation

Karen Russell’s short story, "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," is a haunting allegory about the process of assimilation and the loss of identity. The story follows a pack of girls born to wolf parents as they are taken to a boarding school run by nuns. At this institution, they must learn to abandon their feral instincts and adopt human social norms. This transformation is not a simple education; instead, it is a systematic dismantling of their original selves. Through the experiences of the pack, Russell demonstrates that while "civilizing" individuals might make them fit for society, it often leaves them feeling like strangers in their own lives.

The Technology of Re-education

The school uses a rigid, stage-based system to re-educate the girls, treating their socialization like a mechanical process. This social technology is guided by the "Jesuit Handbook on Lycanthropic Culture Shock," which predicts exactly how the girls will react to their new environment. At first, the girls resist by marking their territory and biting the furniture. However, the nuns use discipline and rewards to force them into human behaviors. This structured approach highlights the tension between nature and nurture. The girls are not just learning to walk upright; they are being forced to forget the sensory language and primal instincts that once ensured their survival in the wild.