“Melting Pot” or “Salad Bowl”: Lupine Metaphors and the Myth of American Assimilation in Karen Russell’s “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves”

Abstract This article examines Karen Russell’s “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” as a vivid illustration of the struggles minority groups face during assimilation into mainstream American culture. Through lupine metaphors, Russell critiques the myth of the American Dream, which promises equality and opportunity but often marginalizes and erases minority identities. The story’s depiction of the wolf girls – raised in a culturally distinct lupine environment and later compelled by nuns to embrace human civilization – parallels the experiences of minorities pressured to conform to dominant norms. Their diverging fates – some fully assimilating and losing their original identity, while others resist and cling to their heritage – highlight the complexities of cultural dislocation. This tension underscores the alienation faced by individuals caught between their original community and the dominant culture. Situating “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” within broader discussions of assimilation and the abjection of the “other,” this article argues that Russell dismantles the illusion of harmonious multiculturalism, revealing how forced assimilation leads to alienation rather than true inclusion.