49 pages • 1-hour read
Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire
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Themes
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of violence and antigay bias.
Use of Power for Good Versus Evil
Through Verity Vox’s ongoing battle with the novel’s antagonist, Earl, the narrative explores how power in the hands of the wicked creates destruction, while power in the hands of the good creates renewal. Verity is the archetypal heroine. She is young and earnest, determined and brave. Earl, meanwhile, is an archetypal villain, and thus, emblematic of evil itself. Physically, he is a grotesque compilation of the people and animals he has killed. Mentally, he is narcissistic, greedy, and violent. The more vicious he proves to be, the more morally superior Verity appears, and this juxtaposition explores how use of power depends on who is wielding it.
While Earl has used all of his stolen power to abuse and exploit the vulnerable, Verity tries to use her power to protect, heal, and restore. The characters’ contrasting attitudes toward their magical capabilities capture how important integrity and humility are for the responsible use of power. Over the course of the novel, Verity receives numerous opportunities to garner more power—from Earl, the mine, and the mountain. Each time, however, she declines these offers for more power because she has no interest in controlling others, “especially not after seeing what Earl had become to get the smallest share of it” (171). Instead, Verity wants “to prevent [Earl] from abusing the people’s goodwill and gullibility, what they’d bartered out of necessity” (170), and to help this “town filled with people whose homes had been destroyed, whose few joys had been washed away, and whose tenuous sense of safety had been shattered” (235). Verity’s ability to follow her own moral compass allows her to make wise choices with her magic. When she does use her magic without forethought—and mistakenly hurts others—she always corrects her mistakes by making amends and repairing the damage, modeling the positive way to wield power.
The time Verity spends without some of her magical capabilities grants her perspective on what it means to be in a position of power. By giving up some of her power to Earl, she is able to live among her new friends as an equal. During this time, she learns “from this mountain, this valley, and these people […] that power does not solve everything. In fact, it can keep you from learning. Power must be measured with wisdom and humility and care” (306). By the novel’s end, Verity understands that to be a witch, channeling the powers of the universe and beyond, is a sacred responsibility. When that power is abused—as Earl has done—the result is ruinous, but when respected and honored, it is revitalizing and connective.
Self-Exploration amid a Small-Town Community
Verity Vox’s stay in the secluded Appalachian town of Foxfire captures how living in small-town communities can complicate the individual’s ability to explore, discover, and maintain her sense of self. When Verity initially arrives in the valley, she is confident that the Foxfire residents will love her and appreciate all of the miracles her magic will offer them. She soon learns that the Foxfire residents have no interest in magic or witches at all, and that she will have to prove herself trustworthy before finding acceptance.
Verity’s protracted attempts to make connections with the townspeople and to find belonging within their community are a metaphor for coming of age, particularly as a queer person in a conservative setting. Verity herself is queer; her witchy identity and magical powers are metaphors for her sexual orientation, and these aspects of her character make her an outsider in Foxfire. Because Verity is not guaranteed belonging in Foxfire, she desperately tries to use her powers to win over the residents: “She supposed that was the fate of the witch, to belong neither to a home of family nor a home of community until she could prove herself. Her worth and belonging were all tied up in the value she provided others” (102). She tries to find belonging and self-worth through her work to fix the residents’ broken belongings, heal their animals, and regrow their gardens. When her spells are reversed, and the town turns against her once more, Verity puts herself into increasingly precarious situations to prove herself yet again, sacrificing her magical powers to Earl to ensure the townspeople’s safety. While Verity’s efforts are pure of heart, these decisions also show Verity’s struggle to value herself simply for who she is. She believes that she has to work for others’ approval, accomplishing increasingly risky feats just to maintain her social relevance. If she can prove her power and bravery to herself, she is hopeful that others will follow suit. Until Tacita, she has never had a relationship where she has been accepted simply for being her.
After Verity gives some of her power to Earl, she must face the truth of who she is without her magic and ask herself who she wants to become. For years, Verity has “told herself that her magic had defined her worthiness,” so when she finds herself without it, she fears that “she must be worth less” (247). Verity gradually discovers the flaw in her thinking and realizes that she is valuable with or without her powers. She begins forming connections with her community without using her magic, building her sense of self without her powers. As a result, Verity finds renewed strength, and she is able to recognize her identity, hopes, and dreams, making decisions for herself for the first time. While Foxfire’s judgment and suspicion initially complicate Verity’s sense of self, this same community also buoys her along her path to self-realization, forcing her to realize that she is worth much more than her powers.
Navigating Community Hurt, Need, and Healing
The novel uses Verity’s time in Foxfire to explore the challenges of regrowing a broken community. Foxfire’s social and cultural history illustrates how a history of violence, abuse, and exploitation disadvantages a population over time. Ever since Earl began seeking his vengeance on the town for expelling him, the people have been trapped in the valley. The depressed circumstances of the area convey how destructive Earl’s impact on the town has been: “Any attempts to rebuild [the bridge] found the wood crumbling to rot. Food spoiled. Animals got sick. The very land itself was cursed. Nothing much grew, and what did was scarcely enough to keep people alive” (2-3). Upon Verity’s arrival, the town is still suffering under Earl’s thumb, and she presents herself as the town’s prospective savior. However, because of Foxfire’s negative history with magic and witches, they do not trust her, showing how far they have yet to go to rebuild their community. Verity also has a lot to learn about how to help, and she changes accordingly, until she finds a way to truly help the community.
Verity is tasked with earning Foxfire’s trust while navigating their complex history of hurt and exploitation. When she first arrives in town, she believes that she can solve their issues with her magical powers. However, a short time in Foxfire shows her that until she understands their suffering and experiences, she cannot understand what they need in order to heal. To help them, she must take a different approach from all her other training assignments. She gradually learns about the town by meeting, visiting and chatting with, and helping the townspeople. Before long, Verity marvels at “how quickly the tide of belonging and friendship turns when you can sing tomatoes out of the ground”; however, she also wonders “how that tide might turn once again if ever she couldn’t give them what they wanted” (72). Although she has learned what they need and is committed to helping them, she also realizes that the town’s trust and acceptance are conditional. Their tenuous faith in Verity is directly related to the violence and exploitation they have suffered. Foxfire wants to heal, but Earl’s abuse has eroded their trust and hope, forcing Verity to shift her approach again.
Verity finally succeeds in helping the Foxfire residents out of their hurt and toward healing through patience, humility, and empathy. At times, Verity fears “that she was only wanted, only liked, so long as she was convenient for others” (247), but once she accepts that Foxfire’s distrust is unrelated to her as an individual, she is better able to accept her role in the community. By the novel’s end, Verity has truly helped Foxfire, sacrificing her own powers and risking her own life. She isn’t needed in Foxfire anymore, and with the lessons she learned there, she is able to move on from the town and create a life for herself. Through her efforts to help the community grow and heal, she has also grown, and she, like them, is ready to pursue a new future.
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