Of the widow's countless death-duties there is really just one that matters: on the first anniversary of her husband's death the widow should think I kept myself alive.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
Alone, she took hot baths and sat exhausted in the steaming water, wondering at her perpetual exhaustion. All that winter she noticed the limp, languid weight of her arms, her veins bulging slightly with the pressure of her extreme weariness ... one day in January she drew a razor blade lightly across the inside of her arm, near the elbow, to see what would happen.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects deep feelings of exhaustion and contemplation of self-harm during a period of emotional turmoil.
In this quote, Joyce Carol Oates depicts a solitary moment of profound weariness and introspection. The protagonist is enveloped in a state of fatigue, both physically and mentally, as she grapples with her feelings of exhaustion in isolation. The act of drawing a razor blade against her skin symbolizes a deeper exploration of pain, vulnerability, and the search for understanding amidst overwhelming fatigue. It highlights the struggle within oneself when faced with relentless weariness and the contemplation of self-inflicted pain as a means of seeking clarity.
Themes
ExhaustionSelf-HarmContemplationPainSolitudeWeariness
In practice
Example use cases
During a mental health awareness talk, this quote could illustrate the significance of recognizing signs of exhaustion.
More from Joyce Carol Oates
All quotes →I never really knew I wanted to 'be' a writer, but I was always writing from a very young age. It became more conscious as an ideal when I was in my twenties.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
I'm drawn to write about upstate New York in the way in which a dreamer might have recurring dreams. My childhood and girlhood were spent in upstate New York, in the country north of Buffalo and West of Rochester. So this part of New York state is very familiar to me and, with its economic difficulties, has become emblematic of much of American life.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
My writing is often a way of 'bearing witness' for others who lack the education and the opportunity to tell their own stories, so I hope that my writing won't be affected too much by my personal life.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
The worst cynicism: a belief in luck.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
. . . there is a wish in the heart of mankind to be distracted and confused. Truth is but one attraction, and not always the most powerful.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
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