Red Fox: The Commentary

Throughout our society, there are many different perceptions of women. Some are good and some not so good, but these different perceptions of women are determined by different factors. This can come in the form of movies, music, television, or the media. The most obvious, yet powerful way women are portrayed is through writing. For centuries, men and women have used writing to their advantage as a way to express their feelings and emotions towards certain issues or even people. Margaret Atwood does an excellent job of addressing different issues through writing.
In the poem, "Red Fox", by Margaret Atwood, she uses conceit and oxymorons to highlight the corruption of society and how women must struggle to survive. The interesting thing about this poem is that Atwood basically makes women seem very mischevious and sneaky in order to get want they want. However, she does justify it by giving different scenarios and reasons for their behavior. Atwood uses the extended metaphor of a red fox to describe the actions of women in a corrupt society. "The sly trickster's eyes, filled with longing and desperation" are just one of many words used to describe the behavior of women. Atwood was trying to say that some women are willing to be very deceitful and cunning in order to get what they want in life."Her white knife of a smile" implies that this red fox, or woman may seem very friendly at first, but its just a way for her to use people to get her way in life. Another emotion present in Red Fox is that of pain and emptiness. Words and phrases such as "filled with longing and desperation" show that there is something missing or being taken away from the "red fox". This could easily be interpreted into a way to describe the high rate of poverty and injustice in society.
Atwood pointed out in her poem that red foxes, or women, can be very deceitful and sly. However, she also argues that they are justified in what they do. "Why encourage the notion of virtuous poverty?" is the most evident example of how Atwood uses oxymoron to show the issue of corruption and poverty in society. In "Red Fox",she is also saying that "virtuous poverty" is a philosophy that many wealthy and privileged people use as an excuse NOT to help out the poor. "It's only an excuse for zero charity" is a line that portrays the wealthy as people who believe that it is better to remain poor and suffer rather than fight to survive when in reality, they're just saying this so that they won't have to be concerned about helping the poor and abused people in society. Atwood begins to defend the actions of deceitful and cunning women in society with lines like "Of course there are mothers, squeezing their breasts dry, pawning their bodies". This shows that women only do the things they do in order to survive and give themselves (as well as their families) a chance at living a decent life. "To survive we'd all turn thief" really supports Atwood's overall argument defending struggling women in society. Although what they're doing is wrong, they can be justified in their actions because they're only trying to survive. Also, if we were in their shoes, we all would do the same thing in order to ensure ourselves a chance at survival and a good life.