Response to Fox: A Complex Inner Character

Fox, a picture book by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks, has very complex characters. The Fox is especially complicated because he has two sides of himself. One side is his outer-self, which is very easy to see. The fox is a sneaky and cunning guy on the outside. What makes him complex is his inner-self, which really adds meaning to the book. Internally, he is lonely and disconsolate.

On the outside, Fox seems like a fly, suspicious, or even scary person. He shows up randomly, and “flickers through the trees like a tongue of fire.” Magpie feels like he is always watching. Eventually, the fox tricks Magpie into riding with him, and he leaves her alone in the dessert. Internally, fox is lonely and envious. He has no companions, and no friends either. I think when he stares at Magpie while she was enjoying dog’s company, he was jealous on the inside. I think that the authors said that the fox only joined Magpie and Dog now and then to show that he didn’t really belong. After that night, Fox’s smell filled the cave, “a smell of rage and envy and loneliness.” At that point, I think Fox was jealous, and felt more isolated, so then he got the idea to separate Dog and Magpie because it was painful for him to see their companionship.

Another way that the authors showed Fox’s despondence is by showing his desperation. Fox tries three times to take away Magpie from Dog. “I can run faster than dog. Faster than the wind. Leave Dog and come with me.” When Magpie finally betrayed Dog, I thought that the Fox would be happy at that point because he had a companion, but then I soon realized that Fox was just lost in his own envy and desolation. I figured that out when Fox left Magpie in the dessert and said, “Now you and Dog will know what it is like to be truly alone.” I don’t think Fox was satisfied with what he’d done; I think he did that to attempt to relieve himself of his pain by watching others feel lost. Fox is like a bully in the schoolyard, because he tries to make others feel as isolated as he is internally, but he can’t hide from the fact that he loves no one, and no one loves him.