Getting started: a basic analysis of The Fox (1923)

Abstract

The Fox was first published in the American literary magazine The Dial in 1922, and in book form with two other short novels a year later. It is a remarkable tale written when Lawrence was at the height of his powers. Because it is short and accessible, I have chosen it as a starting-point for our discussion of Lawrence. I shall use it to examine his ideas and as a basis for exploring the nature of his imagination. You can probably read The Fox at a single sitting and this is what I recommend that you do. The first step in any basis analysis is to get a sense of the narrative sequence of events. You have to ask yourself, ‘What is happening here?’ By working this out, however imperfectly, you are already beginning to construct a response that is more than merely reproducing the story. This is because in your own retelling you are forced to make decisions about what is essential and what is less important. By being selective in this way, you are already shaping a ‘critical’ understanding of the pattern in the text. Of course, this is only provisional; with rereading and further thought you will almost certainly be forced to amend and adapt it. But you have made a start and that is the important thing. With a long and complex novel, this can be a fairly demanding task in itself and raise all kinds of awkward problems.