Setting

The events in the short story “Boys and Girls” take place on a fox breeding farm. The father of the main character is a fox farmer. He breeds silver foxes, skins them and sells their fur. The narrator and her smaller brother Laird like watching their father doing skinning work, which he does in the cellar of their house each fall or early winter when the foxes’ fur is prime.

The narrator describes how in bed at the end of the day she can still smell foxes, and that this makes her comfortable. She gives the detailed description how the foxes are penned and cared for, and what the specific chores are that she performs to help her father. For example, she feeds and waters the foxes, rakes the ground around the pens.