Assignment task: Could I have guidance on the following prompts on the short story "Foxes" by Timothy Findley?
Q1. Explore the following juxtapositions/paradoxes. What meaning/figurative understanding can be drawn from each of them? What effect do they have on the meaning of the story
- Morris Glendenning, a communications expert with a passion for privacy who, except for one brief phrase never speaks
- The stories, symbols, interpretations between Eastern and Western cultures?
- The feeling of "aloneness" despite taking place in busy Toronto
- The initially unpleasant musky smell of the mask versus the warm, satisfying "scent of earth" (Findley 96).
- The pervasive sense of danger that Morris Glendenning seems to suffer, and the feeling of safety that arises when the masks appear to smile
Q2. Identify any other juxtapositions or paradoxes you notice throughout the story. Make a list by writing the quote and page number.
Q3. Much is made of Morris Glendenning's need for layers of clothing and the sense of "protectiveness" it offers him. In what way does the mask offer him "protection?"
Q4. Write a thematic statement for the story.