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
What is a family, after all, except memories? Haphazard and precious as the contents of a catch-all drawer in the kitchen.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Family is defined by the memories we create together, no matter how random they may seem.
Joyce Carol Oates emphasizes that the essence of family lies in the memories that bind us together, likening them to the random but cherished items found in a catch-all drawer. This perspective highlights the beauty and importance of shared experiences and the emotional connections that define familial relationships.
Themes
FamilyMemoriesConnectionsCherishedExperience
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared during a family reunion to remind everyone of the shared experiences.
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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