Renard Roux

In Red Fox, Atwood uses the motif of hunger in order to show that there is no such thing as "virtuous poverty."

In the fifth stanza, this is especially obvious. The speaker says, "Hunger corrupts, and absolute hunger corrupts absolutely," implying that none, not even the most virtuous of us, would remain virtuous in the face of death. The speaker goes on to say, "Of course there are mothers, squeezing their breasts dry, pawning their bodies, shedding teeth for their children." This is seemingly contradictory to what the speaker says previously, after all, what is more virtuous than a mother doing every last thing she can in order to feed her starving children? However, the speaker goes on to say, " Or that's our fond belief. But remember-Hansel and Gretel were dumped in the forest because their parents were starving." This clearly shows that there is no such thing as "virtuous poverty." Even though parents want to protect and provide for their children, there's a point where it is no longer possible, and they have to let the children fend for themselves.

Whether the fact that "absolute hunger corrupts absolutely," or that "Hansel and Gretel were dumped in the woods because their parents were starving," the motif of hunger in Red Fox shows that there is no such thing as "virtuous poverty."