Scary Stories for Young Foxes

Paws frequently appear throughout Scary Stories for Young Foxes, serving alternatively as symbols of incapacitation and liberation, depending upon when and how the image appears in the plot. For example, because Uly’s paw lacks functionality and creates a cumbersome obstacle to his mobility, it symbolizes his overall physical weakness. His sisters see him as a target because of his disability and aggressively prevent him from accessing his share of the family’s resources, which in turn leads to greater weakness due to malnourishment. Uly is finally freed from the dead weight of his paw when the alligator severs it, and he rapidly adapts and gains new physical prowess with only three functional legs, for he is no longer forced to carry the burden of a limb that he does not need. With that freedom, he simultaneously succeeds in renouncing the limited identity that the crueler members of his family imposed upon him.

Paws also appear in a more incidental fashion throughout the novel. For example, Mia’s mother’s paw is injured when she is caught in Miss Potter’s trap; Mia hears her mother’s voice again but does not know that her mother is permanently incapacitated by the injury.