Them (novel)

Them (novel)

Infobox Book |
name = them


author = Joyce Carol Oates
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series = "The Wonderland Quartet"
genre = Naturalism novel
publisher = Vanguard Press (Hardback USA) & Fawcett Books (Paperback USA)
release_date = June 1969
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 508 pp (hardback edition) & 480 pp (reissue paperback edition)
isbn = ISBN 0-8149-0668-0 (hardback edition) & ISBN 0-449-20692-0 (reissue paperback edition)
preceded_by = Expensive People
followed_by = Wonderland

"them" by Joyce Carol Oates is the third novel in "The Wonderland Quartet," first published in 1969.

Plot introduction

It explores the complex struggles of American life through three down-on-their-luck characters—Loretta, Maureen and Jules—who are attempting to reach normality and the American dream through marriage and money.

The story begins with Loretta Botsford and her brother Brock as teenagers, living in a "fair-sized city on a midwestern canal", in the 1930s. Loretta falls in love with Bernie Malin, and sleeps with him. Later in the night, Brock shoots Bernie in the head, and Bernie dies suddenly. Loretta runs away, to her friend Rita's place. Rita lends her some clothes and she wanders off. She meets Howard Wendall, an older cop to whom she confesses the tragic death of Bernie Malin. They later marry, and she bears her son Jules (who was hinted to be Bernie Malin's son). Loretta and Howard live close to Mama and Papa Wendall's house, on the south side of town. Soon after the birth of Jules, Howard is busted for taking money from prostitutes. The Wendalls move into the country house of Howard's Uncle Fritz, the house keeper, and Connie Wendall, Loretta's sister-in-law. Loretta bore her daughters Maureen, and Betty in that country house.

When World War II breaks out, Howard leaves his family to fight in Europe. Meanwhile, Jules grows up to be a fast, energetic child who hangs around older children, and is never still. (Maureen gets her way by being the quiet, shy, delicate girl, while Betty is always annoying) There were two scenes where Jules as a child was fascinated by fire; when he burns down a deserted barn and when a plane crashes in Detroit.

Jules, Maureen and Betty are all sent to a Catholic school in Detroit, after Loretta decided to move there to be near her friend Rita. Jules takes on the role of the "bad boy" who hangs out with kids who steal from stores and smoke at school. Many conclude that Jules will not live past twenty. Soon Jules is expelled from the Catholic school and sent to a public school away from his sisters.

Literary significance & criticism

The novel has been praised for its commentary on the difficulties faced by the American working class and depiction of lower class tragedy through its descriptions of urban life and the interweaving of colloquial language with prose.Fact|date=March 2007However, the last lines of the book reveal a strong feminist definition of the title word "them," even if they also speak for anywoman, anyman, besieged by at all corners by the compulsive players of life.

Awards and nominations

"them" received the National Book Award in 1970.

External links

* [http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/0449206920.asp Bookreporter.com Review]
* [http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/0449206920-excerpt.asp Excerpt from "them"]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Them — is the English third person accusative (i.e., used after a preposition or as the object of a verb) plural personal pronoun. They is the nominative form (i.e., subject of a phrase). Them is sometimes also used in the singular as the accusative… …   Wikipedia

  • Novel ecosystem — Novel ecosystems are human built, modified, or engineered systems of the Anthropocene that are fundamentally altered in structure and function by human agency. Novel ecosystems are part of the human environment and niche (including urban,… …   Wikipedia

  • Novel (film) — Novel Directed by East Coast Vijayan Produced by East Coast Vijayan Starring …   Wikipedia

  • Them Bones (novel) — Them Bones (1984) is the first solo novel by science fiction writer Howard Waldrop. It was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award in 1984, but lost out to William Gibson s Neuromancer .External links* …   Wikipedia

  • Novel — For other uses, see Novel (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Novell. New novels in a Oldenburg bookshop, February 2009 …   Wikipedia

  • novel — novel1 novellike, adj. /nov euhl/, n. 1. a fictitious prose narrative of considerable length and complexity, portraying characters and usually presenting a sequential organization of action and scenes. 2. (formerly) novella (def. 1). [1560 70; …   Universalium

  • novel —    The establishment of the Franco regime at the end of the Civil War had negative consequences for all cultural activity, not least the novel. Those pre war novelists who were not dead or exiled found themselves, for the most part, reduced to… …   Encyclopedia of contemporary Spanish culture

  • novel —    Postwar fiction of the 1950s and early 1960s was characterized by novels of class mobility, sexual adventure and realist aesthetics. Women were still under represented in publishers’ prestigious fiction lists, but influential texts appeared… …   Encyclopedia of contemporary British culture

  • Novel sequence — A novel sequence is a set or series of novels which share common themes, characters, or settings, but where each novel has its own title and free standing storyline, and can thus be read independently or out of sequence. Contents 1 Definitions 2… …   Wikipedia

  • Them Bones — For the novel of the same name, see Them Bones (novel). For the spiritual song, see Dem Bones. Infobox Single Name = Them Bones Caption = Artist = Alice in Chains from Album = Dirt A side = B side = Released = 1992 Format = |CD, Cassette, Vinyl… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”