Common Themes in Joyce C. Oates' Stories

Common Themes in Joyce C. Oates' Stories

Upon comparing multiple short stories of Oates, it is apparent that the author writes very disturbing and dark stories where she touches on taboos that are not standard topics. The Academy of Achievement (AOA, 1997b) published on-line that "Her [Oates'] work has been distinguished from the beginning by a keen, unflinching interest in the nature of evil, and the sources of violence in American life" (p. 1). Oates writes frank fiction about murder, rape, violence, and loss of innocence, but what makes her stories so compelling is that they are written in a realistic setting. Her stories are similar to evening television news stories about domestic violence, gang-rape or serial murders. However, even though society has become desensitized due to media over-exposure, these violent topics none-the-less are a travesty to "normal" every-day life. To protect themselves, people cope with violent topics by not getting involved or ignoring them altogether, as long as they are not personally affected. This is exactly what makes Oates' stories so disturbing yet compelling to read; she crosses the line into these taboos. With no holds barred, she describes her characters to the minutest detail with all their faults, flaws and inner-most thoughts - thoughts ranging from innocent or ignorant to ironic, conceited, angry, or at times abhorred and evil. Additionally, regardless of her story's outcome, Oates' reader walks away with a moral lesson. Following, is a discussion on the common dark and morbid themes present in Oates' stories and her inspirations for them.

Oates grew up on her parents' farm in Lockport - a rural area of upstate New York. "A life-long sufferer from anorexia, depression, insomnia and tachycardia, she developed an early habit of counteracting those problems with her amazing literary productivity" ("The Cambridge Guide," 1999, p. 1). Talking about her upbringing, she states:

I come from people who did not go to college. They didn't even finish high school. People who one might call ordinary Americans who are very hardworking. Who were not self-conscious and were not thinking about themselves very much. I observed their lives. Some of their lives were quite difficult. There was a certain measure of violence in my world. (AOA, 1997a, p. 6)

Oates' rural roots are apparent in many of her short stories. The Adirondack region of northern New York is frequently used by the author as a backdrop to her stories, such as "The Spill," "Nowhere," "Nobody Knows My Name," and, as used in the following argument - "Strip Poker" and "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

Oates' story "Strip Poker" (2008) starts out with a typical summer-by-the-lake setting. Her main character, Annislee, spends her summer in a cottage and swims in "Wolf's Head Lake" to pass time. Oates uses these types of story settings to create an emotional response in her readers. After invoking nostalgic childhood memories, she successfully pits these memories against the grotesque story about to ensue. Furthermore, Oates frequently includes foreshadowing messages in her stories, often disguised in narrative passages of her main characters. The opening line in "Strip Poker" says, "That day at Wolf's Head Lake: Nobody ever knew. Of my family, I mean. Not even Daddy. I did not tell Daddy" (p. 56). Additionally, the author further incorporates foreboding nuances in questions her main characters ask themselves but are indirectly pointed at the reader. Questions such as: "Jumping from the high board . . . closest thing to dying - is it?" ("Strip Poker," p. 57), "In fact there's only just heat lightning (which is harmless - isn't it?). . ." ("Strip Poker," p. 61), "Do I want to be here with these guys? Is this maybe a mistake?" ("Strip Poker," p. 63), "He had shaggy, shabby black hair that looked crazy as a wig and he was grinning at her. 'I ain't late, am I?' he said" ("Where Are You Going," p. 587), or, as a play on Oates' story title, Connie asks Arnold Friend: "Where're we going?" ("Where Are You Going," p. 589).

On USF's Celestial Timepiece - The Joyce Carol Oates Home Page, Oates (1993) has contributed the following statement on "Reflections on the Grotesque":

One criterion for horror fiction is that we are compelled to read it swiftly, with a rising sense of dread, and so total a suspension of ordinary skepticism, we inhabit the material without question and virtually as its protagonist; we can see no way out except to go forward. Like fairy tales, the art of the grotesque and horror renders us children again, evoking something primal in the soul. The outward aspects of horror are variable, multiple, infinite--the inner, inaccessible. What the vision is we might guess, but, inhabiting a brightly populated, sociable, intensely engaging outer world, in which we are defined to one another as social beings with names, professions, roles, public identities, and in which, most of the time, we believe ourselves at home--isn't it wisest not to?" (p. 1)

Oates' stories read like cautionary tales and she makes them more relatable for her readers by drawing writing inspirations from real life events. Ramsland (2012) writes on a "True TV" blog:

The short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" . . . , was based on the tale of Charles Schmid. Oates had read part of the article printed in Life magazine and thought this killer was such a strange character, with his stuffed boots and awkward gait. Yet to her mind, he embodied something elusive about adolescent culture and its hidden dangers. That such a man had somehow charmed three teenage girls whom he subsequently killed inspired her to write a short story from the point of view of a potential victim. (p. 1)

By incorporating Charles Schmid's personal characteristics and making them part of her character Arnold Friend, Oates hits close to the reader's home. The eerie similarity between fiction and real life certainly creates an emotional response in her reader. She writes, "He almost lost his balance. He had to bend and adjust his boots. Evidently