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
When I wrote 'We Were The Mulvaneys,' I was just old enough to look back upon my own family life and the lies of certain individuals close to me, with the detachment of time. I wanted to tell the truth about secrets: How much pain they give, yet how much relief, even happiness we may feel when at last the motive for secrecy has passed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the complexities of family secrets and the bittersweet nature of revealing the truth.
Joyce Carol Oates remarks on the deep emotional connections and challenges within families, emphasizing how secrets often bring both pain and relief. By sharing her experiences in writing 'We Were The Mulvaneys,' Oates highlights the importance of confronting hidden truths as a path to healing and understanding, illustrating how the passage of time can bring clarity and perspective to familial relationships.
Themes
SecretsFamilyTruthPainReliefHappiness
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of honesty in family relationships, one might quote Joyce Carol Oates about the truth behind family secrets.
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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