Foxfire

Foxfire: Resistance against the unjust world

What do you think of when you think of a girl gang? Thinking back to my Korean schools, I would often see girls with tight uniform skirts, glaring at people from a corner and bullying other students without any reason. Even though Joyce Carol Oates is one of my favorite authors, I hesitated to pick up the book Foxfire because it is about the confessions of a girl gang. The girl gangs in cartoons or movies, like Charlie’s angels, are portrayed as cool, strong women warriors. But in real life, what the gang members do cannot be justified. I was very curious how Oates would bring gang members to life in her writing. After finishing the last page of the book, I felt as if I was a member of the Foxfire gang. Even though their actions cannot be justified, I was attached to Legs, Maddy, Goldie and Lana.
This book is a fictional memoir by Maddy, one of the original members of Foxfire. They are raised in the fictional town of Hammond, New York. Legs is a charismatic figure, with the characteristics of feminine pride and solidarity. On January 1, 1953, the Foxfire ritual is held, and the girls become a gang by getting secret tattoos of the gang’s symbol, a red flame. The process of Foxfire becoming a gang is very interesting and funny in some way. It just seems like a group of teenage girls trying to be “cool” by adding tattoos to their bodies and forming a secret “clique.” However, as Foxfire starts taking action in the real world, readers discover that Foxfire is more than simply a “clique.” The first action Foxfire takes against the community is the public humiliation of their high school teacher, Mr. Buttinger. Mr. Buttinger sexually assaulted Rita by groping her breasts after telling her to stay after for extra help sessions. The first Foxfire adventure was non-violent; they paint graffiti messages on Mr. Buttinger’s car, and he is mocked by the school and quits teaching.
Foxfire takes bolder action after Maddy’s uncle rapes her. Foxfire brutally beats him up. As Foxfire’s actions become bolder, the community gets to know about them, and several girls want to join Foxfire. Most of their crimes are smalltime—vandalism and shoplifting. However, Foxfire also takes an interest in charity. Legs insists that the gang should donate money to those who are needy in the community. As the reader gets to know more about each Foxfire member and what they are doing, the reader gets more immersed in the situations the girls are involved in. These girls are from the working class; it is hard to receive an education, and they often suffer from domestic problems, such as child abuse and alcoholism. The gang seems to be their refuge from the terrible world they are living in, and where they often need to face prejudice and sexual assault.
However, this terrible situation does not mean their actions can be justified. They stole goods from local stores, committed violent crimes, and even kidnapped a wealthy man for ransom. Kidnapping, in particular, is a very serious crime. Whatever goals the girls may have, they need to pay for their crimes. Even for chivalrous robbers like Robin Hood or Hong Gil Dong, their crimes, mainly theft, cannot be justified.

Foxfire was their only way to tell the world about the injustice in their lives. The girls would never have received attention in society and would have been abused physically and mentally if they had lived as normal high school girls. They lived in a harsh world; Foxfire protected them. Under the name of Foxfire, the girls could punish men who did not treat them well. If Foxfire did not protect Rita from Mr. Buttinger or Maddy from her own uncle, these girls would have been abused constantly. Foxfire is the manifestation of their anger towards an unjust society. Even when girls are sexually assaulted by men, they are often not protected by the police. The girls of Foxfire are trying to fight this injustice in their own way.
Foxfire is not just simply a story about a female gang. It is a tribute to brave girls who have the courage to fight against injustice. The end of their journey might not seem to be a clear victory, because they didn’t change the corrupt police or decrease the number of women who were raped, but they inspired a lot of those who did not have the courage to stand up. As Mark Twain said, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.” The Foxfire girls were probably also scared of the police or the law, but did not give up resisting the world.