Them (novel)
First edition
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| Author | Joyce Carol Oates |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Wonderland Quartet |
| Genre | Naturalist novel |
| Publisher | Vanguard Press (first); Fawcett Books (reissue paperback) |
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Publication date
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June 1969 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 508 pp (hard) 480 pp (paper) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 29458 |
| 813/.5/4 | |
| LC Class | PZ4.O122 Th PS3565.A8 |
| Preceded by | Expensive People |
| Followed by | Wonderland |
Them (styled as them) is a novel by Joyce Carol Oates, the third in the Wonderland Quartet she inaugurated with A Garden of Earthly Delights. It was first published by Vanguard in 1969 and it won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1970.
Many years and many awards later, Oates surmised that them and Blonde (2000) were the works she will most be remembered for, and would most want a new reader to select, though she added that "I could as easily have chosen a number of titles."
In the foreword to the book, Oates states that for the most part, them is based upon a real family. "Maureen Wendall" contacted Oates by mail after she had failed a college course she took, and these letters are, presumably, recreated verbatim in the novel about two-thirds through the text. Stating that "the novel practically wrote itself," Oates organized and fictionalized the story, but at certain points revised the text to relay "Maureen Wendall's" words verbatim. Oates also noted that, rather than sensationalizing the story of the Wendalls to make slum life more lurid, she actually softened some sections so that it would not overwhelm the reader. She commented that the confessional aspect was, at least temporarily, extremely therapeutic to "Maureen Wendall" and that all the family members were still living.
In an addendum to the afterword, Oates clarifies that this "realist" element was a literary device: all characters and events are entirely fictional. Maureen's letters were written by Oates, and the "Miss Oates" to whom the letters are written is also a fictional character. At the time (1962–1967), Oates went by Joyce Smith.
Them 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, and meets Howard Wendall, an older cop to whom she confesses the 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 with Howard's family where Loretta bore her daughters Maureen, and Betty.
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