We Were The Mulvaneys Essay Questions

Two probing questions that you have as a result of your reading: 1. Family, as well as the significance of names, is at the heart of We Were the Mulvaneys. How does this affect each character’s identity? Does this theme connect to Oates’ other books? 2. God and religion are mentioned a lot, particularly in situations involving the two female Mulvaneys. How do each of the characters define religion? Is religion just something inserted into the plot for structure to the women’s lives? We Were the Mulvaneys does not belong to a particular literary genre and appears very realistic in the events and reactions of the characters. It puts forth dark themes, such as violence and revenge, as well as themes shaped by religious undertones. Much of

Ephraim. This gloom, brought on by the aftermath of Marianne’s rape, surrounds the family with negativity and causes those around them to “turn away” from the family altogether. Judd expresses his feelings in the quote in a sarcastic tone, demonstrating the disdain he has for the people who had known the Mulvaneys essentially forever, but seemed “not to see them.” No one in the town is able to look beyond the stigma that comes with the Mulvaney family because they will “spoil the happy occasion” with their presence. This connects to the theme of alienation which affects every member of the family.

5. “Yet he believed he scarcely knew Marianne at all. He loved her, but scarcely knew her. Members of a family who’ve lived together in the heated intensity of family life scarcely know one another. Life is too head-on, too close-up. That was the paradox. That was the bent, perplexing thing. Exactly the opposite of what you’d expect. For of course you never give such relationships a thought, living them. To give a thought - to take thought - is a function of dissociation, distance. You can’t exercise memory until you’ve removed yourself from memory’s source.” (We Were the Mulvaneys