The essay that I chose to read this week is titled They All Just Went Away by Joyce Carol Oates. In this essay, Oates describes the characteristics of a house and then proceeds to explain how "the house anticipates the home and will very likely survive it... for only where there is life can there be home" (Oates 554). She introduces her home to be "a happy, close-knit, and unextraordinary family" (Oates 555) and continues to describe the Wiedel family: a family with a drunk father who consistently abuses his six children and a mother who consistently stands up for her husband, even though she receives the same treatment. She is telling the story of her growing up next to this family and how it has impacted her up to this day.
This essay really is not about sharing her life and telling the story of the dysfunctional family that she lived alongside of because her audience really isn't toward people who want a story. Her entire essay is really a metaphor for the world. There are very unequal opportunities all around the world with certain people having more freedoms than others. She describes one family that has parents that are both loving and work where the children are happy. Then, she describes one family that has drunk parents who don't really work and have children that are growing up in a horrible environment. This, unfortunately, is the case all around the world. After the family is separated when the father goes to jail, Oates sees one of the Wiedel daughters in school many years later. The daughter is more mature than Oates and expresses very adult-like behavior. This opens up Oates's eyes.
Her audience is able to relate to her because everyone has a place that they can call home. She describes what value a home has and how it shapes you as a person. I believe that she definitely was able to achieve her purpose because of her example with the Wiedel daughter. Their homes were completely opposite and that has forever changed the both of them.
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