Fox

Mr. Fox’s name ties him to the wily carnivore that can sneak into hen houses and make off with chickens. In folkloric traditions dating back to antiquity, foxes are associated with cunning, and this association highlights the tactics of manipulation that Fox uses against the girls he abuses and the adults who might stand in his way. In “The Wedding of Mrs. Fox,” a fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm, the wealthy Mr. Fox seduces a young woman to be his bride, but she learns to her horror that her betrothed is a serial killer who preys on young women. One night, she witnesses him with his latest target and retrieves the dead girl’s ring as evidence that the events occurred. Later, she tells a story at their wedding feast, exposing his murderous tendencies to the wedding guests. He is duly punished by death. This tale is a variant of the tradition of Charles Perrault’s “Bluebeard,” which Oates has used for retellings before (in the short story “The Blue-Bearded Lover” and the novella Beasts). Elements of the classic tale—particularly the theme of silence and speaking, the serial nature of Fox’s crimes, and the prop of the ring—play out in Oates’s novel.