Oh God, I'm going to have to finally read Ulysses. I am told that it is an ordeal.
*slaps forehead* Okay, I'm appalled that I forgot this one, given that it's my favorite damn book. Foxes only appear fleetingly (though frequently) in it, sadly, but it still offers insight: Thoreau's Walden.
In Walden (just as in Pelevin's book, come to think of it), foxes represent a state of yearning to transcend one's society, which of course ties into Thoreau's themes. And as a result, they are hunted beasts. In fact, that result also makes them demonic, since being demonic (as seen somewhat bluntly in some old Indian tales about asuras) is one way of seeking to overcome or transcend one's society. The most relevant quotes:
"Sometimes I heard the foxes as they ranged over the snow crust, in moonlight nights, in search of a partridge or other game, barking raggedly and demoniacally like forest dogs, as if laboring with some anxiety, or seeking expression, struggling for light and to be dogs outright and run freely in the streets; for if we take the ages into our account, may there not be a civilization going on among brutes as well as men? They seemed to me to be rudimental, burrowing men, still standing on their defence, awaiting their transformation. Sometimes one came near to my window, attracted by my light, barked a vulpine curse at me, and then retreated."
Think about Pelevin's story of the encounter between A and the Yellow Master. The concurrence is amazing, though of course A went further than other foxes.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-05-25 06:50 pm (UTC)*slaps forehead* Okay, I'm appalled that I forgot this one, given that it's my favorite damn book. Foxes only appear fleetingly (though frequently) in it, sadly, but it still offers insight: Thoreau's Walden.
In Walden (just as in Pelevin's book, come to think of it), foxes represent a state of yearning to transcend one's society, which of course ties into Thoreau's themes. And as a result, they are hunted beasts. In fact, that result also makes them demonic, since being demonic (as seen somewhat bluntly in some old Indian tales about asuras) is one way of seeking to overcome or transcend one's society. The most relevant quotes:
"Sometimes I heard the foxes as they ranged over the snow crust, in moonlight nights, in search of a partridge or other game, barking raggedly and demoniacally like forest dogs, as if laboring with some anxiety, or seeking expression, struggling for light and to be dogs outright and run freely in the streets; for if we take the ages into our account, may there not be a civilization going on among brutes as well as men? They seemed to me to be rudimental, burrowing men, still standing on their defence, awaiting their transformation. Sometimes one came near to my window, attracted by my light, barked a vulpine curse at me, and then retreated."
Think about Pelevin's story of the encounter between A and the Yellow Master. The concurrence is amazing, though of course A went further than other foxes.
Damn character limit. Continued below.