Red Fox

    In Red Fox by Margaret Atwood she develops an extended metaphor for a hungry human being through use of diction and imagery. Throughout the poem she uses the image of a Fox to express her main idea that hunger causes desperation which is the human response to hunger, and the need to survive. Through this poem however she does not only comment on the response to hunger by the starving but also by society.

    Atwood begins the poem The Red Fox by giving the idea that the fox is being spied on by the speaker. The speaker mentions that the fox "could care less" this creates the idea that the fox has its own problems to worry about and is not as worried by this presence because she is smart enough to sense any real danger. In the next stanza Atwood begins to create an idea of hunger by using words such as "lean" and "skinny". She also mentions the "desperation" of the fox. It is also in this stanza that she begins to show parallels between the fox and a human being, she doesn't directly state the word fox in this stanza and mentions "feet" instead of paws. In the stanza that follows Atwood asks "why encourage the notion of virtuous poverty?" it is through this question that she begins to recognize the problem with society, she makes reference to the things mothers are expected to do for their children, and all the ways they should sacrifice themselves. Her tone is somewhat sympathetic toward the fox that will do anything to survive, which is clear through the line "to survive we'd all turn thief".

    Overall in the poem Red Fox Atwood is using the fox as a metaphor for a human who is struggling to survive. Through diction she creates an idea of extreme desperation due to hunger, which can be seen through the image that she creates of the "lean" vixen. Food plays an important role in the poem as she alludes to all the ways mothers are expected to sacrifice themselves for their children. But in the end she concludes that "to survive we'd all turn thief", and that we should not live by this unspoken rule of "zero charity" because one day we might ourselves be in the same situation as this "fox".