Introduction & Overview of Hatter Fox by Marilyn Harris

Hatter Fox Introduction

Hatter Fox, published in New York in 1973, was Marilyn Harris's fourth novel. Tapping into an emerging public interest in Native American history and culture, Harris created a story about Hatter Fox, a rebellious, angry seventeen-year-old Navajo girl who is despised by white society in New Mexico. Locked up in a reformatory and on a path of self-destruction, Hatter meets Teague Summer, an idealistic young white doctor from the Bureau of Indian Affairs who is determined to save her from herself. Eventually, after many false starts, Hatter begins to make progress. Summer takes on more and more responsibility for her welfare, and an unlikely friendship takes root before the novel reaches its tragic conclusion.

The novel raises many important social issues that are as relevant today as they were in 1973. For example, how should society deal with young offenders and those who simply do not fit into the...
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