Violence and Anger in Joyce Carol Oates’s Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl-Gang
Anger and violence are prevalent themes in Joyce Carol Oates’s Foxfire. Though published in the nineties, the setting of the book takes place in the state of New York in the fifties. The FOXFIRE girls observe and experience violence in nearly all facets of their lives. The expression of anger through violence has become normalized for them during their upbringing. The narrator, Maddy, contends that, “It was a time of violence against girls and women but we didn’t have the language to talk about it then” (108). Instead, the girl-gang unites under the leadership of Legs Sadovsky with all men being named as the enemy. The girls find strength and protection from victimization in the growing number of members in the girl-gang. FOXFIRE allows the girls to establish control over their lives and their circumstances in a way they hadn’t previously had the opportunity to.
Rita O’Hagan was initiated into FOXFIRE despite claims of her being overly emotional and in constant need of savior. When Maddy tries to buy a typewriter from her uncle and he tries to make a move on her, Legs tells her, “Oh Maddy-Monkey, shit—we’re all Rita” (78). The fact that this statement came from Legs is very significant. Legs has shown her dominance and defiance from the beginning of the novel, especially as it pertains to men. Yet, she acknowledges that as much power you think you have, you can be put into a situation where you are the one in need of saving. Women must protect other women because who else will?
This novel as a whole sheds light on the violence and anger women experience. Dealing with the legal system, readers can observe Legs’ anger and frustration as she deals with “the biggest insult ever.” The police interrogate Legs about the car-kidnapping and insinuate that she could not have done this without the help or direction of a man—her boyfriend. The police assert that this must be the workings of a male-gang, “Asking repeatedly who her boy friends were, what kinds of things she did for them, which gang is it?—Viscounts, Hawks, Dukes?—or some older guys?” (151). Legs does end up getting charged for a long list of things, including being “incorrigible” and “promiscuous” with the helpful testimony of her father, stating how he just couldn’t “control” her anymore. This perpetuates the idea that it is not acceptable for women to express their anger. With the police, they made the assumption that Legs was getting vengeance for a man, a “boyfriend.” Legs’ drunken, violent, hypocritical father has the audacity to blame Legs’ actions as a result her mother’s death. The retelling of these confessions allows the reader to understand the motives and meanings of the anger and violence within the novel. Although this book was set in the fifties, a lot of the struggles the girls face can be translated into occurrences and circumstances we see today. Women still exhibit the need to protect one another and share their experiences so that we may empower one another.
