The first reaction to Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is my Heart by Joyce Carol Oates is a feeling of sharp reality as the novel captures the genuine lives that live through adversity and peace in the 1950s and 1960s United States. Oates’ novel provides an insight into the various ways many Americans lived in the middle of the twentieth century. The lifestyles showcased in the book, according to Oates’ writing, are meant to serve as an example into the basic day-to-day operations of the broader range of Americans at the time. Therefore, Joyce Carol Oates uses her opinions to reflect the broad social atmosphere of the numerous cultural differences in the 1950s and 1960s United States through a character that fits into these cultures.
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She attempts to provide the real history of the United States by crafting the novel to show the generic people as opposed to the major events. The ending of Oates’ novel captures the most obvious example through the death of President John F. Kennedy. Most history taught will give the basic facts and events of the time, such as Kennedy’s death; however, Oates wishes to tell the history of the real people of the time by using an obscure reaction by Iris in this scenario. Iris’ unusual reaction reveals that Oates wants the reader to not look at the historical events, but at the small, everyday events that basic people go through like when Leslie Courtney is seen going on with his daily routine and looking for a lost cat in his brief appearance in part three. When Iris thinks to herself “It’s nothing to you really, you’re here with all these others the way, the other night, you were with the Savages and their relatives, but it’s nothing to you really, if Kennedy lives, if Kennedy dies, if any stranger lives or dies” (Oates 370), Oates is motioning that the story she has constructed is unrelated to the major events of history because the story is about the basics of life. Therefore, the assassination of Kennedy does not tell the history of 1963 in the mind of Joyce Carol Oates, but rather, the life of a character like Iris Courtney and her response to …show more content…
The story was designed to reflect the different communities and basic lives of Americans; however, Joyce Carol Oates wrote the story in such a way to not only cover these topics, but to also imply her perspectives as means to influence the reader. The depiction of a number of characters reveals Oates’ motives. Jinx Fairchild’s and Iris Courtney’s relationship straddles the conflict between whites and blacks having affairs with one another. Jinx even must wait at the entrance to a café to see Iris because he is unpermitted to remain there, and he receives the glaring white eyes of the white customers for just being there. Oates wants the reader to feel for Jinx’s struggles at the time and reflect upon the mistreatment of blacks before the Civil Rights Movement. Additionally, the scene with Persia and her boyfriend, Virgil Starling, illustrates an instance of police brutality in relation to racial profiling when the armed white policemen stop Virgil, a black man, without cause or reason. The dialogue suggests to the reader that Oates wishes to demonstrate the normality of situations like this to Virgil when he notes “No matter what I done or didn’t do, it’s who I am” (Oates 163). The reader is persuaded to feel remorse for the treatment African-Americans suffered at the time through Oates’ realistic
She attempts to provide the real history of the United States by crafting the novel to show the generic people as opposed to the major events. The ending of Oates’ novel captures the most obvious example through the death of President John F. Kennedy. Most history taught will give the basic facts and events of the time, such as Kennedy’s death; however, Oates wishes to tell the history of the real people of the time by using an obscure reaction by Iris in this scenario. Iris’ unusual reaction reveals that Oates wants the reader to not look at the historical events, but at the small, everyday events that basic people go through like when Leslie Courtney is seen going on with his daily routine and looking for a lost cat in his brief appearance in part three. When Iris thinks to herself “It’s nothing to you really, you’re here with all these others the way, the other night, you were with the Savages and their relatives, but it’s nothing to you really, if Kennedy lives, if Kennedy dies, if any stranger lives or dies” (Oates 370), Oates is motioning that the story she has constructed is unrelated to the major events of history because the story is about the basics of life. Therefore, the assassination of Kennedy does not tell the history of 1963 in the mind of Joyce Carol Oates, but rather, the life of a character like Iris Courtney and her response to …show more content…
The story was designed to reflect the different communities and basic lives of Americans; however, Joyce Carol Oates wrote the story in such a way to not only cover these topics, but to also imply her perspectives as means to influence the reader. The depiction of a number of characters reveals Oates’ motives. Jinx Fairchild’s and Iris Courtney’s relationship straddles the conflict between whites and blacks having affairs with one another. Jinx even must wait at the entrance to a café to see Iris because he is unpermitted to remain there, and he receives the glaring white eyes of the white customers for just being there. Oates wants the reader to feel for Jinx’s struggles at the time and reflect upon the mistreatment of blacks before the Civil Rights Movement. Additionally, the scene with Persia and her boyfriend, Virgil Starling, illustrates an instance of police brutality in relation to racial profiling when the armed white policemen stop Virgil, a black man, without cause or reason. The dialogue suggests to the reader that Oates wishes to demonstrate the normality of situations like this to Virgil when he notes “No matter what I done or didn’t do, it’s who I am” (Oates 163). The reader is persuaded to feel remorse for the treatment African-Americans suffered at the time through Oates’ realistic