What is The Porcupine

In "Get Me Some Medicine," Dee and Fellis reconcile in the woods as they stare at a porcupine in a tree and wait for it to come down. Fellis observes that the porcupine will likely never emerge from the tree. The feeling of waiting for something to give that likely never will is one that haunts Dee and Fellis throughout the collection, but is especially present in this story, wherein Fellis drops out of college because he cannot overcome the sense of alienation he feels in the classroom. Thus, the porcupine is symbolic of the ways in which Dee and Fellis are trapped in the cycles that govern their lives.