Carthage by Joyce Carol Oates

 

     I wanted to read a thought-provoking mystery during my summer break, so I considered one of Joyce Carol Oates’s books. 

  Carthage is an entertaining, provocative novel filled with suspense. It is engrossing; Joyce Carol Oates always creates characters that make you think long after you finish the book.

    The novel reminds readers of the war in Iraq. It exposes the trauma, suffering and pain it caused and the circumstances that led to it.

     I do recommend Carthage but I am not blind to the fact that this novel perpetuates a number of stereotypes and prejudices that float consistently in the traits of unconscious biases.

     The heart of the mystery sets off with the disappearance of Cressida Mayfield, a nineteen-year-old woman from Carthage, New York. What happened to Cressida?

    The mystery revolves around her disappearance; the novel is an unpredictable adventure with several twists and turns. It keeps the readers on tenterhooks till the end.  There is no way you can guess what happened to Cressida, and I love that about the novel.

     Joyce Carol Oates is a brilliant novelist. I appreciate the way she makes the reader believe something about a character, only to later lead the way to the reevaluation of the original views she offers. This may be a strategy to expose the complexity of reality. One has to be careful before judging others. Still, the trap of stereotypes and biases in this novel makes my head spin like a carousel.

    First of all, I found it unsettling that she portrayed an absurd dichotomy between Cressida and her older sister, Juliet. Cressida is labeled as the “smart girl” and Juliet is the “beautiful” one. 

 

  Cressida Mayfield and Juliet Mayfield,

the two icons of the relentless stereotyping of women

 

 “Cressida was invariably judged too smart.” I was intrigued to learn about her. We read about Cressida being “smart” ad nauseum. However, the concept of “smart” is warped to satisfy a kind of stereotype that fits the unconscious biases of society. I find this character shallow, self-centered and somewhat boring. Cressida was tactless, selfish and blunt in a way that did not make her smart. I expected witty remarks or actions that would shape funny, thought-provoking situations, but nothing happened to convince me that Cressida was indeed smart other than the mind-boggling work she did on Frankenstein for a college assignment.

  The author associates the idea of a so-called “smart” girl with being rude and reckless. It was very disappointing because I do believe that some modern societies still have problems with what they consider “smart women”. Smart women are viewed with distrust, so this story helps to enhance the problem and fortify the idea that smart women can be dangerous and unpredictable. Now think about how this translates into politics…

   This is a social feature that dates back to the Middle Ages, when women who expressed disagreement or opposition were persecuted as witches, so the “smart girl” stereotype depicted here may be an expression of the misogynistic trend that continues to exist, and it is used effectively to silence and disempower women across the world. The “smart woman” who appears “different” is a red flag to be avoided at all costs. 

   Women are expected to be docile and follow the rules consistently to be liked. Blunders are not to be forgiven, so the “smart” one in this novel meets the “need” of the collective consciousness of American society to project distrust on “smart women”. Cressida is not to be trusted. She is unpredictable. On the other hand, Juliet is the “beautiful” one, and even though Juliet was sometimes physically attacked by her fiancé she covered it up for him because she was “in love with him”. She would never acknowledge that there was something terribly wrong in that relationship, and this satisfies a kind of prejudice here about what to expect from the so-called “beautiful women”: that beautiful women can tolerate violence because they are dumb enough to do so. The so-called beautiful woman never seems to understand that the relationship is unhealthy. In this novel the women are classified and put into these senseless boxes that perpetuate injustice and unfair judgments about women.

 

 

 Cressida and her intellectual conversations… with her father

Cressida enjoyed discussions about Greek philosophers with Zeno, her dad. However, Joyce Carol Oates makes clear that Juliet and Arlette avoided getting engaged in such discussions because they did not like to disagree.

   "The animated conversations excluded Arlette and Juliet who claimed not to enjoy arguing." I have lost count of the times in which intellectual discussions take place between the teenaged daughter and her father in novels. Fathers are portrayed with fun intellectual interests at the dinner table whereas mothers are boring. I never understood this dynamic, but the bias exists in literature and it makes no sense to me. It is interesting to see how the patriarchy is at work in subtle ways.

   

 

     What does “being beautiful” mean?

   Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, so the whole obsession with beauty here is hard to comprehend. Why did Cressida care about it so much? Cressida is jealous because Juliet is considered beautiful. She bullies Juliet. Cressida thinks her parents don’t love her. Even the author suggests that their parents, Zeno and Arlette, do not love Cressida as much as they love Juliet. How can a parent’s love be influenced by the kid’s physical beauty? The  situation is preposterous and ridiculous, but don’t be so quick to judge them. Her parents do suffer after her disappearance;  Joyce Carol Oates wants to make sure you understand that they do love Cressida. Ambiguity is the queen of the game.  They love her, but they had trouble parenting her. Why is it so hard for Cressida to connect with her parents?After a careful analysis I realised that her father is prone to spoil her, so Cressida has low tolerance for frustration. 

     The dichotomy between Arlette and Zeno

     Zeno appreciates Cressida’s artistic skills. He is impressed by her artworks, but I noticed that Arlette only appreciated her art when Cressida was a child and also once she lost her daughter. Again, we see an unsettling dichotomy here: the man values the complexity of Cressida's art; his wife only does so under special circumstances. The man shares intellectual conversations with Cressida. His wife is unwilling to do so. 

  Due to Cressida’s talent for drawing, Arlette did consider the possibility of putting something together to publish a children’s book, but Zeno dismissed the idea. He considered that Cressida was far too complex for that. Zeno thought that doing so was not at Cressida’s intellectual level, so her father is put on a pedestal here as if he were the one who knows what is best for Cressida.

 

 

 Brett Kincaid

   Juliet’s boyfriend, Brett Kincaid, is the brave hero who served in Iraq. The trauma of war left physical and mental scars that will eventually ruin his life. Even before going to war Brett Kincaid had been carried away by violent impulses. Violence is totally acceptable in males, anyway. Joyce Carol Oates shows that women fall in love with him because he is so “brave and kind.” His violent impulses can be safely ignored because his kindness and empathy overshadow those flaws according to the cultural mindset of the novel. I am not making anything up. This is what happens in the story.

    It is confusing to me, because Brett used to hang out with psychopaths who treat women like garbage, but, strangely enough, Brett has been immune to the influence of his peers who sexually assault women and get away with it. I think this aspect of the novel is baffling. Joyce Carol Oates clearly wants the readers to feel compassion for Brett, so she shows that he can be very empathetic and kind despite his background of hanging out with psychopaths. Joyce Carol Oates shows that Brett is ready to defend the vulnerable at all costs, but why was he a friend of the psychopaths who referred to women in the most disgusting ways? I have trouble handling this ambiguity. Is it realistic? What do you think? 

 

     PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)

 The stream of flashbacks and disruptive thoughts exposes the atrocities of war and the effects of trauma. I appreciate how the author evokes deep emotions and feelings. She captures the emotional impact of war and the helplessness that results from it. 

  Juliet and Brett’s dream of getting married never materialized. Their dream is completely shattered for different reasons, and there is something about this that remains unclear at the end...

 

 

     Unfair prejudices

 

  I loved it when Cressida volunteered to teach math to students in middle school. She was in her element when she did that. I loved how she poured her creativity into the fascinating task of teaching mathematics.  That was smart of her, but it did not last long. At some point somebody made a comment that was offensive to Cressida. The situation highlights Cressida’s deep sensitivity, but I did not really understand why it affected her so much. This could have been fleshed out more perhaps. It was disappointing that she stopped volunteering because of that. Why did it offend her so much? What does this tell us about Cressida?

   I was also struck by the fact that all the middle school students who needed assistance in math had “brown skin”. Why is Joyce Carol Oates pointing this out? Does she think that only students with brown skin need assistance with math?   This was not only inappropriate; it was also unnecessary to point out the skin color of the students.

 

  

    The intriguing nature of “The Investigator”

 

 “The investigator” is a unique, intriguing character. He investigates and works to address injustice and change things in unconventional, peaceful ways. Yet he is rather authoritarian and cold in his own private realm. I wanted to learn more about this strange man. What happened to him?  

 

    What I truly liked about the novel

   The novel offers the opportunity to get to know a great variety of characters in various settings and situations. At times it dares to invite us to contemplate different perspectives on the same situation.

    The death penalty is explored with heartbreaking details. The novel exposes the darkest, most brutal aspects of society.  Yet amid the violence and disrespect for human dignity there are rays of hope...

    I cherished the unique instants of contemplation, shared silence and human connection. I appreciate the peaceful moments of inner redemption: the empathetic understanding that forms unlikely friendships…

 

 Similarities with We Were the Mulvaneys

 

 Arlette finds comfort and solace in the Catholic religion just like the mother in We Were the Mulvaneys. Again, Catholicism offers them the relief and comfort they seek.

Men use alcohol to deal with their outrage and hopelessness.

Male violence is acceptable and tolerated in several ways.

Both novels deal with the effects of trauma and violence.

Both novels expose the consequences and features of the lynch mob mentality. Interestingly, Joyce Carol Oates mentions the so-called lynch mob mentality at this interview here. I want to highlight it because the lynch mob mentality is a tool of authoritarian regimes.

 https://www.salon.com/2014/02/20/joyce_carol_oates_on_twitter_i_dont_really_say_anything_that_i_dont_mean/

 

 

 

 

                    Conclusion

 This is a thought-provoking, engaging novel that reveals the darkest brutal aspects of society. It reveals the effects of trauma and violence and the persistent nature of gender double standards. It exposes the ways in which women are oppressed and classified by labels with an utter disregard of their talents and potential. Unfortunately, it reinforces stereotypes and prejudices that are part of unconscious social biases.

 

Feel free to read my writing on the following books by Joyce Carol Oates:

We Were the Mulvaneys

Fox

We Were The Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates

  

  I found Joyce Carol Oates’s book in a Little Free Library and I was tempted to read it. Her literary voice captivated me from the first page. Her writing is addictive, fun and insightful. It blew my mind away. Now I am excited to search more of her works.

  We Were the Mulvaneys is an outstanding, remarkable, thought-provoking novel about a family of six. Corinne and Michael Mulvaney had four children: three boys and a girl. The family was popular in the rural community; they lived on a farm in upstate New York in the 1960s and 1970s, and Michael had a roofing business. The family had an active social life until something tragic happened on Valentine’s Day in the year 1976.

   It is an immersive read charged with suspense and spiced up by the charm of being an introspective psychological novel; I admire the mastery with which Joyce Carol Oates reveals the variety of subtle and not so subtle features of the human relationships and interactions that unfold.  Her literary skills illuminate with grace and ease the results of prejudices, social misogyny and the intricacies of the human experience. This book is a great choice for those who are motivated to lead book discussions.

 The narrative incorporates various aspects of the social and political arena of the 1970s and 1980s, creating an opportunity for reflection and debate. The author inserts morsels of information related to political and social matters. I was left in awe at these unexpected comments that may help to understand how some aspects of their reality resonate with our present, and how they fit in the social construction of the novel.

   The tragic event that becomes a turning point in the life of this family is the rape of the daughter--Marianne Mulvaney--by somebody in the community. From that point on, everything changes. Their friends are no longer their friends; it is shocking to see that they side with the rapist and his family because “he is rich and has connections.”

 The Mulvaneys were then ostracized. Let me make this clear: they blamed the victim  and questioned her family while they sided with the rapist and his family.

    It is interesting to take a moment to reflect on this. Things have not changed much since she wrote this novel. In November 2024 seventy-seven million people in the United States of America voted for a sexual abuser. They could have chosen the woman who stood up to sexual predators and protected the victims, but they preferred the sexual abuser, while ninety million people did not even bother to vote, enabling the sexual abuser to become president.  Let’s highlight the fact that they enabled a man who bragged openly about sexually assaulting women—the man wo referred to this as “locker room talk.” I have no interest in sugarcoating the truth to protect the ego of the members of their cult. (Some people do that; I do not).  

  I appreciate the way Marianne Mulvaney moved forward with her life. She chose to avoid dwelling on the cruelty and hatred of the rapist, and she focused on rebuilding her life.  Unfortunately, her own parents did something selfish and obnoxious to her after the tragedy. I do not want to reveal what they did, but it made no sense to me, and I still do not understand why they did that.

 Corinne Mulvaney, Marianne’s mother, is initially presented as a fascinating, sensitive woman with a free spirit, ready to defy the discriminatory behaviors of the club her husband joined. However, my perception of Corinne changes completely after the sexual assault takes place, when she is ready to comply with her husband’s misogynistic request instead of focusing on supporting Marianne. I will not share what they did because I do not want to include spoilers here. Suffice it to say that this was a turning point in the way I viewed Corinne.

    Michael Mulvaney succumbed to an addiction to alcohol after his daughter was raped, so his behavior became erratic and dangerous. When this happened, Corinne became somewhat subservient to the whims of his violent, authoritarian ways. After this shocking realization, I did not care about her behaviors. I did not see any growth in her as a character.  Joyce Carol Oates tries to instill quirks into the character to make us like her, but the lack of self-respect in her interactions with her husband shows that Corinne could not redeem herself.

   The story finally closes in the year 1993 with a family reunion. It offers a hopeful ending filled with optimism and healing. The promise of a better future is envisioned.

   Marianne’s life after her tragedy was adventurous and interesting. It was absorbing to read how she navigated the challenges. She was determined to move forward with devotion, kindness and perseverance. I think she is the heroine of the story. However, I think Joyce Carol Oates could have explored the effects of sexual trauma further.

   Her brother Patrick did something heroic to defend his sister and restore a sense of justice, and he counted on the support of their youngest brother, Judd. However, Marianne’s best friend was Muffin, the cat who stayed with her throughout every ordeal. He never failed her; he never mansplained her. They were inseparable. He was a silent hero in the story.

 After I finished the novel, I kept thinking about the characters, situations and the social and historical aspects of it. I now look forward to exploring more of Joyce Carol Oates’ oeuvre. She is an exceptional writer.

 

 

 International Dog Day

Today is International Dog Day so it is a good day to remind everybody to treat dogs and all our furry friends with kindness and respect. Always make sure that your dog has an accessible bowl with clean water.

 Be thankful for the love they give you and don’t forget to consider their needs and motivations. Avoid leaving dogs and other pets alone in cars. They are very vulnerable to temperature fluctuations. Also, avoid leaving them alone in planes. Dogs and other pets are not luggage. They are living beings They suffer in those enclosed spaces and they can even die.