“Boys will be boys,” Vigilance, and Survival in Machado and Dani’s “The Low, Low Woods”

At the end of Carmen Maria Machado and Dani’s The Low, Low Woods, El and Vee uncover the generational violence against women in Shudder to Think and they confront Josh, the teenager that sexually assaulted them at the beginning of the series, as he and other assault Jessica. When Vee punches Josh, she narrates, “I’ll never forget how small he looked. How I felt like if I clasped his body in my hands, it would collapse under my strength, pus-filled chambers, oozing and bursting, until I reached some kind of horrible center — a burning, solid core.” Vee sees Josh’s weakness, which Josh covers with his bravado and predatory actions.

As I reread The Low, Low Woods and taught it, I kept thinking about the final issue and how the culmination of the story fights back against a myriad of lies that society perpetuates when it comes to victims of sexual assault. These come together with Vee punching Josh, but they come into clearer focus following the encounter with the skinless at Heaven on Earth, after Jessica opens up herself and swallows the skinless, Josh, and others into a sinkhole.