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
The danger of motherhood. you relive your early self, through the eyes of your mother.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Motherhood connects women to their past experiences, bringing them face-to-face with their own childhood through the lens of their own mother.
In this quote, Joyce Carol Oates highlights the profound impact motherhood has on a woman's identity and self-perception. When mothers raise their children, they often revisit their own formative years, reflecting on their past through the perspectives and experiences they share with their offspring. This duality can present both a beautiful connection and a challenging emotional cycle, as mothers navigate their former selves while shaping the lives of the next generation.
Themes
MotherhoodSelf-ReflectionIdentityChildhoodMother
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the challenges of parenting, one might refer to this quote to emphasize the complexities of understanding one's own mother while becoming a mother.
More from Joyce Carol Oates
All quotes βI 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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Be assured those will be thy worst enemies, not to whom thou hast done evil, but who have done evil to thee. And those will be thy best friends, not to whom thou hast done good, but who have done good to thee.
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