AN ANALYSIS OF JOYCE CAROL
OATES’S EXCERPT FROM WE
WERE THE MULVANEYS
“Because I was happy upon the heath,
And smiled among the winter's snow,
They clothed me in the clothes of death,
And taught me to sing the notes of woe.”
-Song of Experience: The Chimney Sweeper
by William Blake
Natalie Keller & Cori McGownd
What Statement
The author characterizes Judd
Mulvaney as an innocent Romantic
who shifts his perspective to an
experienced Realist.
Overview
Romanticism
Other World
Realist
Literary Elements
• Syntax
• Diction
• Juxtaposition
• Tone Shifts
• Repetition
• Use of Parentheses
• Foreshadowing
• Irony
• Symbolism
• Point of View
• Organization
Shifts in Syntax & Tone Proves Transition
from Romanticism to Other World
Romantic
Other Worldly
• Line 1-8 “That time in our lower
driveway, by the brook…Fastflowing clear water, shallow,
shale beneath, and lots of
leaves.”
• Line 16-19 “I leaned farther and
farther over the rail staring into
the water and I was moving,
moving helplessly forward, it
seemed I was moving somehow
upward, rising in the air,
helpless.”
• Tone: Carefree – line 2“I was
straddling my bike staring down
into the water.”
• Tone: Curious – line 15 “oh boy!
we-ird! Scary and ticklish in the
groin as I leaned farther…”
Repetitious Phrases Prove Innocence
• Line 16-19 “I leaned farther and farther over the rail
staring into the water and I was moving, moving
helplessly forward, it seemed I was moving somehow
upward, rising in the air, helpless.”
• Line 18 & 19
• “helpless”
• “moving”
Lack of Repetition in the Realist Perspective
Reflects the Character’s Loss of Innocence
Repetition Earlier
Within the Realist World
Of verbs: Lines 16-17
About Death: Lines 34
• “moving, moving”
• “dying, dying, dying”
• “farther and farther”
Of Heartbeat Lines 20-23
• “ONEtwothree ONEtwothree!”
• “Every heartbeat is past and gone!
Every heartbeat is past and gone!”
Of knowledge: Lines 39 and 66
• “I didn't know”
• “not to know what I knew”
Use of Parentheses Foreshadows Realism
• Line 9 – “The brook was flowing below left to right
(east to west, though at a slant)”
• Line 11 – “and I stood immobile leaning on the railing
(pretty damned rotten: I’d tell Dad it needed to be
replaced with new planks, we could do it together)”
Use of Parenthesis Shows the
Transition in Judd’s Perspective,
But Also Emphasizes His Constant
Struggle to Accept It
Line 43-45
•“(Might as well buy our vehicles mudcolored to begin with, saves time, was
dad’s logic)”
Irony Proves Shift from Romanticism to
Realist
• Lifted off Earth to reassess his own life from new
perspective
• Line 34-48 “Though on a farm living things are dying,
dying, dying all the time, and many have been named,
and others are born taking their places not even
knowing that they are taking the places of those who
have died.”
Symbolism of the Heart & Diction Proves
Life
•Line 19-22 – “in that instant aware of my heart
beating ONEtwothree! ONEtwothree! thinking
Every heartbeat is past and gone!”
Point of View, Stream of Consciousness, &
Organization Proves Transition
• Line 31-34 – “Every heartbeat is past and gone! Every
heartbeat is past and gone! In a trance that was like a
trance of fury, raging hurt Am I going to die? because I
did not believe that Judd Mulvaney could die.”
• 1st Paragraph- stream of consciousness
• 2nd Paragraph- “Them, too. All of them. Every
heartbeat past and gone.” – Telegraphic
The Character’s Use of Tone & Voice Reflect His
Shift in Perspective
Tone
Line 40-55
• “aged”
• “rotted”
• “scared”
• “snag”
• “terrible”
Voice
Line 42-46
• “mud-colored Ford
pickup”
• “barreling up the drive,
bouncing and rattling”
• “the truck’s doors were
neat curving white letters”
Imagery Words are Used to Highlight the
Differences Between the Romanticist World and
Realist World.
Romanticist World
Lines 17-22
• “staring”
• “moving”
• “rising”
• “beating”
• “shiver”
• “thinking”
Verbs used to
describe Judd
Realist World
Lines 42-46
Describes writing on the
• “neat”
truck
• “curving”
Describes color of the truck
• “mud-colored”
• “barreling”
Describes actions of
the truck
• “bouncing”
• “rattling”
The Commas, Semicolons, and Colons represent
that the revelation of Judd’s Understanding of
Death has Shifted his View Into a Realist One
Lines 38-39
• “So I knew I wasn’t a dope, but I didn’t know– not really.”
Line54-58
• “And I looked after them, these two people so remarkable to me,
my dad who was like nobody else’s dad and my big brother who
was– well, Mike Mulvaney: ‘Mule’ Mulvaney– and the most terrible
thought came to me.”
Dialogue is Used to Show Judd’s Connection to
Reality and People.
Line 51
•“‘Hey Ranger-kid: what’s up?’”
How I Can Relate-- Death
Child View
Matured View
• Great Grandmother dying
while in elementary school
• Mr. Wade’s recent death