The Other Nature Essay -- Writing Writer Literature Papers

The Other Nature Early in her exploration of mans soul, Joyce chirrup Oates discovers a fundamental truth while writing about the percentage of Stavrogin in Dostoyevskys The Possessed-that as part of his inevitable fall, man violates nature in so complete a office as to separate himself from the just now forces that can save him. This theme dealing with the Fall of man is a constant thread that weaves itself through most of Oates essays, the decomposition by various(a) internal and external forces and the tragedy that results from mans blindness to his own nature and to what would erect him salvation. Oates power lies in her ability to delve deep within the personalities of the writers, the characters they create, and the virile themes buried deep in the works soul. She applies psychological concepts and archetypes in order to look the implications brought about by the similarities and differences in the characters thoughts and actions. She reaches her most thought-prov oking insights by connecting mate motifs across a wide spectrum of literature and constantly leaps from one initiation to the next causing the reader to wonder how she has come to the fascinating and resplendent conclusions presented in Contraries. By examining the Fall of man, she discovers how self-awareness and material preoccupations lead to a corruption of the natural self. Later, the discussion of tragedy and transcendence in essays about business leader Lear and Nostromo reveals the fundamental importance of women-as saviors of the natural world and representatives of salvation for men. Women are the underlie focus of her essays the archetypes and roles they adhere to and defy as literary characters shape the way she perceives the female. Ultimat... ... subjection is presented as grisly and mean. Perhaps this shift of focus from the gallant to the obscene is necessary to bring more clearly into focus the long female archetype and provide us with the strength to interv ene in such deep-running cultural patterns. Oates certainly does not preach at us, and she neer tells us exactly what to do. But reading Connies story, and reading over Oatess lift as she sees the archetype that created it, we are pushed, at least, to read the stories we encounter to decree and reflect on the conflicts of human nature they reveal.Works CitedOates, Joyce Carol. Contraries Essays. New York Oxford UP, 1981. Where are You Going, Where Have You Been? 1966. Celestial Timepiece Joyce Carol Oates Archive. Ed. Randy Souther. Dec. 1996. San Francisco. 10 Dec. 2000. <http//storm.usfca.edu/ southerr/wgoing.html