Spatial Interpretation Of Joyce Carol Oates’ Them

Joyce Carol Oates’ Them mainly describes people’s physical and spiritual predicaments in their life in the mid-twentieth century America. It has been studied from the perspective of violence, feminism, naturalism and urban study. The spatial dimension in Them has not been systematically explored. Therefore, this thesis aims to employ theory of spatial production to interpret characters’ predicaments in spaces and the impact of ideologies and values on characters that are conveyed by spaces.The thesis proceeds with the analysis of the Wendalls’ predicaments and struggle from three aspects:physical space, mental space and textual space. Through the explanation of urban and domestic spaces, physical predicaments of the working class are firstly revealed. Then, the mental spaces of the Wendalls and Nadine’s family are studied to expound characters’ spiritual plights. Physical and mental spaces are reflected by Oates through specific textual space. With the interpretation of juxtaposition and repetition of images in Them, the metaphorical sense of textual space is argued to further emphasize characters’ dilemmas.Finally, a conclusion is drawn that space serving as a tool of thought and action can place people in predicaments both physically and spiritually, but it also urges them to struggle. Spaces represented in Them embody social relation as well as domination of the time, which provides a viable explanation to the springhead for the Wendalls’ plights and futility of their struggle.