The Little Foxes

One of the major themes of The Little Foxes is the dangers of passive violence to oppressed communities. In this play, the victims of passive violence are women, Black people, and poor white people. While some of the characters actively work to make the existing systemic injustice work even more in their favor, other characters sit back and let the system work for them on its own. These types of people are condemned in the play. Alexandra tells Regina, “Addie said there are people who ate the earth and other people who stood around and watched them do it” (78). Lillian Hellman takes a clear stance on what it means to benefit from a system that exploits others, and that it is just as evil as actively exploiting people.

The character of Ben is the embodiment of this theme in the play. While Oscar, Regina, and Leo all take active steps to push the scheme against Horace forward, Ben sits back and lets the system do its work. He hates conflict, and often serves as the mediator of the group. He does what he can to stay on everyone’s good side, and refuses to know certain details of the plan so he can’t be held accountable.