Between 1968 and 1978, Oates taught at the University of Windsor in Canada, just across the Detroit river. During this immensely productive decade, she published new books at the rate of two or three per year, all the while maintaining a full-time academic career. Though still in her thirties, Oates had become one of the most respected and honored writers in the United States. Asked repeatedly how she managed to produce so much excellent work in a wide variety of genres, she gave variations of the same basic answer, telling The New York Times in 1975 that “I have always lived a very conventional life of moderation, absolutely regular hours, nothing exotic, no need, even, to organize my time.” When a reporter labeled her a “workaholic,” she replied, “I am not conscious of working especially hard, or of ‘working’ at all. Writing and teaching have always been, for me, so richly rewarding that I don’t think of them as work in the usual sense of the word.”

I believe in uttering the truth, even if it hurts us. Particularly if it hurts us.” (Part 1, “Storybook House”) Imagery We Were the Mulvaneys" offers insights into the intricacies of human nature. The characters' responses to tragedy reflect the spectrum of human emotions—grief, anger, guilt, and resilience. Oates portrays the imperfections of familial relationships, illustrating that even the closest bonds can be strained by external events and internal conflicts. The Mulvaneys are blessed by all that makes life sweet. But something happens on Valentine’s Day, 1976—an incident that is hushed up in the town and never spoken of in the Mulvaney home—that rends the fabric of their family life…with tragic consequences. Years later, the youngest son attempts to piece together the fragments of the Mulvaneys’ former glory, seeking to uncover and understand the secret violation that brought about the family’s tragic downfall. Speaking of speed- this "family saga", which is more like some episode in a lame, average, overly-self-conscious family's life, and the aftereffects of said episode (which--can you believe it? are BAD) is unnecessarily l-o-o-o-n-g.Corinne does not reject Marianne. She chooses her husband over her daughter out of desperation and must live with that choice. But she never ceases loving, and grieving over, Marianne, the child most like herself. En casi 600 páginas escritas sin prisa, demorándose en las descripciones de personas y ambientes, entramos en la vida de la familia Mulvaney – padre, madre, 3 hijos y una hija – con su vida idílica en la granja de High Point cerca de la pequeña población de Mt. Ephraim. El padre tiene un negocio y una posición social reconocida en la comunidad, para él es muy importante ser aceptado en el Country Club y otras asociaciones y ser respetado por las fuerzas vivas de la localidad. Su mujer, Corinne, es un personaje muy inusual, dedicada a su familia y a su pequeño negocio de antigüedades, con un punto de locura y excentricidad que no le impide ser una madre atenta y cariñosa. Los hijos son populares en la escuela y todo marcha sobre ruedas hasta que se produce un incidente de abusos que cambiará sus vidas para siempre. We Were the Mulvaneys" by Joyce Carol Oates is a poignant exploration of the complexities of family, tragedy, and resilience. Through its themes, character development, narrative techniques, and implications for understanding human nature, the novel invites readers to contemplate the fragility and strength of the human experience. Joyce Carol Oates ci descrive dettagliatamente i meccanismi che scattano in ciascuno dei Mulvaney in seguito all’incidente, ed è la parte più riuscita del romanzo, sebbene, come ho detto, sia troppo minuziosa fino all’eccesso. Il finale poi mi ha spiazzato, non ci ero preparata, visto quanto accaduto prima. E comunque non mi ha convinto.

I read that last run-on sentence four times before comprehending it. And in the same paragraph (!) we get: The past tense in the title hints at the book’s outcome. In some ways it’s about the decline and fall of a once prosperous, well-loved upstate New York family. One event that happens on Valentine’s Day in 1976 affects each of the six Mulvaneys differently, and this book, narrated mostly by the youngest child, Judd, tells the sad, sad story. I wish I could claim to be as naturally "good" as Marianne. I know that there are girls and women like Marianne. (Her character is based partly on one of my high school friends.) I would like to hope that I could be magnanimous like Marianne, and forgive those who have wounded me, but I'm not sure that this is so. It's enough for me as the novelist to know and take solace in the fact that such individuals as Marianne do exist. I celebrate their generosity and goodness. I reach out to them: Thank you! Your being is an example to us all. How did this book touch your life? Can you relate to it on any level? What do you believe is the message the author is trying to convey to the reader?

Readers have reacted in sharply contrasting ways to the dilemma of the heart of the novel: If a loving, family-oriented woman must choose between her husband and one of her children, whom does she choose? Corinne Mulvaney is a deeply, unself-consciously religious woman who acts out of love and duty, but also with an unquestioned sense of God's intentions. She doesn't think of herself her own wishes but those of others; until the end of the novel, when she befriends an energetic, irrepressible woman named Sable, Corinne doesn't think of herself as an individual at all. She's Corinne Mulvaney, known to everyone as Michael Mulvaney's wife. Her behavior will seem baffling, even unconscionable, to those who don't share her faith. I don't believe that, in her place, I would have acted as she did, but I don't judge her harshly. Perhaps I even envy her faith. Don't also:] Read: "The Little Friend" by Donna Tartt. This much time invested in something should reap benefits, no? Nuestras vidas quedan definidas por los antojos, caprichos, crueldades de otros. Esa telaraña genética, los lazos de sangre. Era la más antigua maldición, más antigua que Dios. ‘¿Me aman?, ¿me quieren? ¿Quién me querrá, si no lo hacen mis padres?’. A father denies his favourite child, and the devout mother unquestioningly goes along with it; the other children react by leaving or messing up; careers and ambitions are thwarted; a plan to execute retribution is hatched, further dividing the family; and, as lives are ruined or put on hold and the scars of the past refuse to heal, nobody talks about “it” – the unmentionable “event.”

I am ashamed to be seen reading anything baring the "Oprah's Book Club" stamp, but I must say that I am never truly deeply disappointed by the selections. (Some do manage to achieve classic status.) Until now. (Is this the very reason the club dismantled and lost the cred????) Despite her success (Oates has published 37 novels, 19 collections of short stories, four novellas, eight volumes of poetry, seven plays and eight academic essays), she has the habit of hitching the disclaimer "it seems like a small thing in the great scale of being" to the end of her statements, although this is possibly a rebuke to the giant egos of the literary world rather than straightforward modesty. The great scale of being is something she is in two minds about. "I veer between a vision of the human race rather like Jonathan Swift's, dark and embittered and satirical, and a kind of idealism that maybe there are just enough wonderful people in the world to make us feel thrilled with the possibilities of the human."

More from The Author

By the end of this book I was crying. I just want to start with that and get it cleared out of the way. It wasn't just a sniff and the threat of tears, I had actual tears running down my face and snot streaming out of my nose. I was leaking enough that I actually had to put the book down and go grab some tissues. Of course the subject matter really increased my emotions. The things this family went through and how they dealt with is enough to break your heart just hearing about it, let alone suddenly becoming very involved. All the characters are sympathetic, even Michael Sr., who is pretty easy to hate. Everyone we encounter is flawed and real and that makes you feel for them so much more. Of course the one you feel for the most is Marianne, the true victim in all of this. Yet, somehow she manages to move on with her life and become the strongest of all the Mulvaneys. She's filled with hope and love and the fact she maintains that after her rape and then the odd rejection of her family is truly amazing. We Were the Mulvaneys," a novel by Joyce Carol Oates, delves into the complexities of family, identity, and societal expectations. Through the lens of the Mulvaney family's experiences, Oates explores themes of innocence, tragedy, and resilience. This AP Literature essay will analyze the novel's central themes, character development, and narrative techniques, while considering its implications for understanding human nature and the challenges of navigating personal and collective struggles.