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
Detroit, my 'great' subject, made me the person I am, consequently the writer I am - for better or worse.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects how the city of Detroit has shaped the author's identity and writing.
Joyce Carol Oates expresses the profound impact that her hometown of Detroit has had on her life and work. She acknowledges that her experiences in this city have influenced her as a person and as a writer, suggesting both positive and negative aspects of this relationship, ultimately highlighting the complex nature of one's origins and their connection to creativity.
Themes
DetroitIdentityWritingInfluenceCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
During a literary discussion, I might quote Oates to illustrate the impact of environment on creativity.
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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I'll play it first and tell you what it is later.
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The camera relieves us of the burden of memory. It surveys us like God, and it surveys for us. Yet no other god has been so cynical, for the camera records in order to forget.
John BergerRead