Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang: Analysis of Major Characters
"Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang" is a novel that explores the lives and dynamics of a group of young girls who form a gang in the 1950s. The story is narrated by Madeleine "Maddy" Faith Wirtz, who reflects on her past experiences as a member of FOXFIRE while working as an astronomer's assistant in New Mexico. At the center of the narrative is Margaret Ann "Legs" Sadovsky, a resilient leader who unites a group of misfit girls, each with their own traumatic backgrounds, into a tight-knit community. Notably, Elizabeth "Rita" O'Hagan's painful experiences of abuse and subsequent actions catalyze the gang's formation and their early exploits. Other significant characters include Betty "Goldie" Siefried, who stands out physically among her peers, and Loretta "Lana" Maguire, who adds to the gang's diverse makeup. The story also introduces Violet "Snow White" Kahn, whose beauty becomes a pivotal element in the gang’s criminal schemes, and Whitney Kellogg, Jr., whose interactions with the gang highlight the consequences of their actions. Through its characters, "Foxfire" delves into themes of friendship, trauma, and the quest for identity in a society that often marginalizes young women.
Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Joyce Carol Oates
First published: 1993
Genre: Novel
Locale: Hammond, a small city in upstate New York
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: 1952–1956
Madeleine (Maddy) Faith Wirtz, the novel's narrator. Maddy lives quietly in New Mexico, where she works as an astronomer's assistant. Thirty-five years earlier, she was a member of FOXFIRE and the historian of that gang's violent exploits. Now, in 1989, the fifty-year-old Maddy is transcribing the notebooks in which she recorded the adventures of the girl gang in the early 1950's.
Margaret Ann “Legs” Sadovsky, FOXFIRE's first in command and the inspiration for most of its adventures. Sixteen years old when she brings the gang of misfit girls together, Legs is the product of a broken home. Her mother died when she was born, and her father (who may not be her biological parent) is an abusive alcoholic. Legs transcends her own awful beginnings to bring this gang of girls together into the only community they may ever know.
Elizabeth (Rita) O'Hagan, a slightly overweight young girl in the gang. Her sexual abuse at the hands of Mr. Buttinger, her ninth grade math teacher, precipitates the first act of FOXFIRE. The youngest of nine O'Hagan children, Rita was gang raped two years earlier by the Viscounts. Eventually, she will be banned from the gang for dating a boy.
Betty “Goldie” Siefried, the first lieutenant of FOXFIRE, who at the age of fifteen is five feet, ten inches, tall. She has been kept back in school so is in Maddy's class, “towering above everyone except the tallest boys.”
Loretta (Lana) Maguire, the fifth of the founding gang members, a tall, good-looking platinum blonde with one weak eye.
Violet “Snow White” Kahn, one of several girls who join FOXFIRE later. Her beauty is used as a lure in some of the gang's worst crimes.
Whitney Kellogg, Jr., a Hammond industrialist whose attraction for Violet is used in his own kidnapping but whose religious conversion helps foil the plot.