54 pages • 1 hour read
Helen OyeyemiMr. Fox
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2011A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Prologue-Chapter 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Prologue Summary
Content Warning: This guide section contains depictions of domestic abuse, violence against women, murder, suicide, and sexual assault.
Mr. Fox describes how Mary Foxe visited him in his study while he was writing and listening to Glazunov. His wife, Daphne, was upstairs. She didn’t complain about the noise from the music or anything else because Mr. Fox once complimented her on how she never complained.
Mary comes in and goes to shake hands with Mr. Fox, but he throws a telephone at her, upset that she has returned after seven years. She sits down and plays with the globe while Mr. Fox is transfixed on her. Mary asks how Mr. Fox is, and he says he is in love with Mary. Unconvinced, she questions the limits of Mr. Fox’s love, and she argues that he needs to change and stop being a villain.
Mr. Fox tries to counterargue, but Mary calls him a “serial killer” because he always kills his female characters in his writing. Mr. Fox thinks Mary is too sensitive with no sense of humor, and he argues that his writing is just fiction. Mary asks what Mr. Fox would do for her, and he says he would kill dragons for her. She likes that he is playing along, which gives Mr. Fox “the jitters.” She touches his neck and tells them they are starting.
Chapter 1 Summary: “Dr. Lustucru”
Dr. Lustucru beheaded his wife. He kept his wife’s head and body in a room intended to be a nursery. After a week, he missed his wife—“No one to warm his slippers, etc.” (7)—and went to reattach her head. She held her head on herself and started talking about war. He tried and failed to take her head back off, giving up and locking her in the nursery. She escaped, and he fears that she will come back seeking vengeance. He lives in constant fear, but she doesn’t return.
Mary knocks Mr. Fox back into a chair and covers his eyes, saying she doesn’t want him to see her. Mr. Fox realizes that he is Dr. Lustucru and that Mary is the wife he beheaded. He hums as he waits, and Mary laughs quietly. He asks how they got into the story, and Mary replies that it is “very technical,” and Mr. Fox can’t understand it.
Mary says Mr. Fox knew that it was them. She takes her hands off him but tells him not to look at her yet. She says her turn is next and that Mr. Fox won’t like it.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Be Bold, Be Bold, But Not Too Bold”
Mary Foxe writes a letter to St. John Fox about the “Dr. Lustucru” story and questions why he doesn’t have his picture on his books, implying he might be ugly. He replies humorously that he is so ugly his dogs run away from him. Their correspondence continues. Mr. Fox questions if he wronged Mary. She asks him to read stories she wrote, and he eventually agrees to meet her. Mary is the daughter of a vicar. She currently works as a tutor for a 14-year-old girl, Katherine, the daughter of Mr. Cole and Mitzi, with whom she lives.
She receives a letter from Mr. Fox inviting her to meet at the Mercier Hotel. Later, Katherine and Mary go for a walk, and Mary assigns Katherine two books, The Woman in White and The Count of Monte Cristo, with a question about villains. Katherine indirectly insults Mary’s bobbed hair, but Mary accepts her appearance despite her mother’s past hopes that she would be beautiful.
Mary retypes the stories to take to Mr. Fox. When the Coles are away, Mary borrows Mitzi’s clothes and makeup but ends up washing it off her face. At the Mercier, a man approaches, claiming to be Mr. Fox, but she doesn’t believe him. She waits until dark and leaves.
Mary writes an angry letter to Mr. Fox, but she rips the letter. Katherine hears this and continues reading. Katherine uses Mary’s typewriter, despite Mary’s protests, and Mary falls asleep. Upon waking, she finds Katherine still in the room, which comforts her. They go for a walk.
Reflecting on a past incident, Mary recalls how Mr. Cole once groped her breast but decided not to pursue her further after looking at her. When she and Katherine return, Mr. Cole is home, and Mitzi is preparing for a women’s club meeting. Katherine stays in Mary’s room during the meeting and reads Mary’s fortune with Tarot cards, which appear grim. They feed the koi outside, and Mary is unhappy. Later, Katherine goes to bed, and Mary works on a history project and creates a new lesson plan on astronomy.
Mary receives another letter from Mr. Fox, inviting her to meet his secretary for lunch. Realizing Katherine sent the insulting letter she drafted, Mary reluctantly agrees. She hesitates at the restaurant’s revolving doors, going in and out until the secretary stops her. The secretary refuses to give her name and describes Mr. Fox as quiet.
Weeks go by without any word from Mr. Fox. Katherine encourages Mary to retrieve her stories. Mitzi suggests Mary take a break from tutoring Katherine. Mary visits the address on Mr. Fox’s letters to get her stories back. The secretary initially doesn’t remember her but retrieves the stories. She says Mary desires love, not writing, and burns the stories in front of her. Mary stops the fire before it reaches her.
Mary thinks it will be difficult for Mr. Fox to change. She falls asleep for days, dreaming she is a spinster living in the attic of her deceased parents’ house, renting the rest to a lawyer named Mr. Pizarsky. They rarely interact, and his loud parties annoy Dream-Mary, who writes romance novels. One night, she returns from a walk to find Mr. Pizarsky alone, with a birthday cake for her. He explains he found an old birthday card in her room. He is Polish, and Mary expresses a wish to visit Poland. She goes upstairs without accepting the cake, thinking about Mr. Pizarsky before falling asleep.
Upon waking, Mary compares Mr. Fox and Mr. Pizarsky, feeling drawn to Mr. Pizarsky. She notices that Mr. Pizarsky wrote notes on her pillow and sheets—some about himself, some mocking her feelings, and some admitting his feelings for her. She realizes the game with Mr. Fox continues.
Prologue-Chapter 2 Analysis
Mr. Fox begins by introducing a disorienting and multi-layered narrative that challenges the boundaries between reality and fiction while exploring complex themes such as power dynamics, gender roles, and the ethical responsibility of storytelling. These early chapters establish an intricate interplay between Mr. Fox and Mary Foxe, introducing elements that shape the rest of the novel, including manipulation, blurred realities, and the question of an author’s accountability in creating their characters and narratives.
The author introduces the theme of The Ethical Responsibility of Writers in Portraying Violence Against Women almost immediately through Mary Foxe’s confrontation with Mr. Fox. Mary, who functions as both muse and conscience, calls Mr. Fox a “villain,” criticizing his tendency to repeatedly kill off female characters in his stories. The allegory of “Dr. Lustucru,” in which a husband decapitates his wife and assumes he can reattach her head at will, serves as a grotesque metaphor for Mr. Fox’s treatment of women in his fiction. The narrative highlights that Mr. Fox’s casual depiction of violence against women reveals a deeper lack of understanding about the impact of his storytelling. Mary’s insistence that Mr. Fox needs to change pushes him to confront the implications of his writing, and this confrontation serves as a driving force throughout these chapters.
Helen Oyeyemi also introduces the theme of Subverting Traditional Gender Roles and the “Damsel in Distress” Trope, particularly through the character of Mary Foxe. Rather than embodying the typical passive muse, Mary asserts her agency and directly challenges Mr. Fox’s authority. In their initial interactions, Mr. Fox’s attempts at humor and deflection reveal his discomfort with Mary’s critique, as she refuses to accept the roles he has assigned her. The author further emphasizes this when Mary takes control of their shared narrative, placing them both within the story of Dr. Lustucru, with Mr. Fox inhabiting the role of the violent husband. By positioning herself as an active participant rather than a passive character, Mary subverts the typical “damsel” role and instead becomes an architect of the story, challenging the gendered power structures that traditionally dominate literature.
The author also develops the theme of The Relationship Between Authors and Their Characters through the blurred lines between reality and fiction, a hallmark of Oyeyemi’s narrative style. The boundary between Mr. Fox’s fictional world and his real life is porous, allowing Mary Foxe to move fluidly between the two. This blurred reality creates a sense of disorientation for both Mr. Fox and the audience, raising questions about the autonomy of characters and the power dynamics inherent in the act of storytelling. Mary’s ability to appear in Mr. Fox’s study and draw him into her stories emphasizes the complex interplay between creator and creation, demonstrating that characters are not simply passive entities but have their own desires and agency. This blurring of boundaries forces Mr. Fox to confront the impact of his narratives, highlighting the responsibilities of authors to the lives they create on the page.
Oyeyemi’s writing style contributes to the disorienting effect that pervades the novel. The narrative frequently shifts between different stories, realities, and perspectives without clear demarcation, which establishes questions about what is real and what is imagined. This stylistic choice underscores the metafictional elements of the text, emphasizing the constructed nature of stories and the power dynamics between storyteller and character. The fluidity between different narrative layers also reinforces the concept of manipulation—just as Mr. Fox manipulates his wife and the women in his stories, so too does Oyeyemi manipulate her audience’s perception of what is real. This interplay creates a layered reading experience that encourages individuals to consider the nature of storytelling.
Power dynamics and manipulation are central to the relationship between Mr. Fox and Mary, with each trying to assert control over the other. Mr. Fox’s initial reaction to Mary’s appearance—throwing a telephone at her—is an act of aggression that reveals his fear of her influence. He views Mary as a disruptive force, someone who threatens his authority as an author. Mary, however, is unperturbed by his hostility and instead seeks to confront him with the consequences of his actions. Her insistence that Mr. Fox changes his ways and her ability to draw him into her stories reveal her power over him, reversing the typical dynamic between author and character. This power struggle highlights the concept of agency—Mary refuses to be a passive figure in Mr. Fox’s life, instead demanding recognition and change. Manipulation also extends to Mr. Fox’s relationship with his wife, Daphne, whom he describes as someone who “doesn’t complain about anything” (1), because he once told her he loved that quality. This admission reveals the calculated nature of Mr. Fox’s behavior and his desire to control the people around him, molding them to fit his preferences. His interactions with Mary echo this dynamic. However, she resists his attempts at manipulation and instead turns the tables on him, challenging his authority.
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