Throughout the essay "They All Just Went Away" Joyce Carol Oates defines the ingredients of a home, and what or who a home includes. Oates has many adventures playing in abandoned and prohibited houses when she was a little girl. Each house has a story to tell about the people and events that happen with them. The old houses are permeated with memories and lifeless remnants. Oates describes the dark history of one of the houses with an alcoholic father who tries to burn his family alive while they are sleeping. Can you imagine your father ever even thinking of doing this? I have a great relationship with my dad so this just blows my mind. I cant even picture this! The value of a home is depicted when Oats describes the livelihood of the Weidal family. Value is not only defined with dollar bills, but also by how much a person wants or needs something. A home's value is the result of how much effort the families are willing to sacrifice to make the home desirable to them. For example, Oates describes Mr. Weidel as a wife and child beater, a lousy drunk, and it is also insinuated that he is a child molester. No one desires to go over to the Weidel house because no sacrifices are being made to make their home admirable. If a person wants to go home there must be something worthwhile to bring them back.
The Weidel family is a good example of what happens when the relationships people hold to so dearly within a home are inexistent. Mr. Weidel seems to have no feelings for his wife and children; Mrs. Weidel clings to her husband even when he beats her, and the children are either wild partiers, mentally unstable, or have outrageous tempers. Homes are important because they provide people with comfort, security, and loving relationships which makes everything else less important.
"They All Just Went Away" relates to everyone's personal life because every person in the world has a place they call home. I know I do. This essay brings life to the meaning and value of a home. Oates uses the Weidel family as an example of how important and worthy homes are to people no matter what kind of family a person comes from. Do you have a place you can call home?
I agree with Alexa's viewpoints on "They All Just Went Away". A home is meant to be a place of peace and sanction for any family to turn to when they are having a long day. Family, and the home, serves as a steady point in everyone's lives as a reminder of the people who care about each other. The Weidel family, as Alexa depicts it, is an example of a family whose home is more of a prison than a sanctuary. As Alexa states, "Homes are important because they provide people with comfort, security, and loving relationships which makes everything else less important". I can't imagine my home being as tormented and horrid as the Weidel's. I think this story should remind us of how deeply we should cherish our families, since not many have the opportunity to do so.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alexa when she says homes are important because they provide people with comfort, security, and loving relationships which makes everything else less important. Home is a place where you can escape from everyone else and truly be yourself. Home is where the most cherished people in your life reside. When this is not the case, and home feels like a prison, home can be torture for some people. Family is everything. When even a single person in the family is toxic, it makes the home they live in toxic not only for them but for the rest of the people living in the house. This story made me look at my home life and appreciate the great relationships I have. As they say, home is where the heart is.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Alexis's views on the essay. The two homes in the piece are drastically different. Oates's home is stable and comforting, while the Weidel's home is unsafe and violent. I think Oates uses this harsh comparison to underscore the theme of the essay: the importance of a home. She ties in the how important family is as well. It's obvious there is something wrong with Mr. Weidel, but the family seems to overlook the fact. This truly makes me question why the family is covering up Mr. Weidel's issue if they're being hurt in the process.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alexa's view on the story that a home is a place of peace and should be were you can relax and feel safe in. The story compares a good home and a broken home and how it affects the people that live in it. Mr.Weidel's is an abusive,alcoholic and his children are subjected to physical and sexual abuse and well as his wife. This clearly is a broken home and that results in the children having anger issues and one child has a criminal record. Oates mentions this to convey that broken homes create broken people and good homes like the one she grew up in creates normal stable people. The lack of good relationships in a broken home severely impair the growing up process. Reading this piece makes me feel grateful for growing up in a good home with loving relationships.
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