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Marianne's rape is the beginning of a tumultuous fifteen-year period. Her father, lost and angry, does not understand why his daughter will not press charges against her attacker. He can no longer look at his daughter the same way and sends her to live with a distant relative of Corinne's in Salamanca , New York.
The Mulvaney children—Mike Jr., Patrick, Marianne, and Judd—were popular and successful in school. Mike Jr. was a football star, Marianne was a cheerleader, Patrick had top academic honors, and Judd, born considerably later, was the treasured youngest of the family.
Dive deep into Joyce Carol Oates' We Were the Mulvaneys with extended analysis, commentary, and discussion.
Sep 1, 1996 · Oates orchestrates this family tragedy from a single, brutal incident. She captures the realism of how this incident reverberates to the rest of the family. There's a natural rhythm and a wholly believable anastomosis of decisions that are set forth, irrevocably patterned before each family member.
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Take a look at the title of this difficult story: We Were the Mulvaneys. The implication is that the trauma and tragedy of Marianne's attack drove the family apart. By saying, we were the Mulvaneys, Joyce Carol Oates is suggesting that they are not a family anymore.
Marianne ends up in Spartansburg, as the companion of an older, wheelchair-bound writer, Penelope Hagström. Miss Hagström respects Penelope's intelligence and trusts...
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The Mulvaneys—parents Mike and Corinne, children Mikey Jr., Patrick, Marianne, and Judd—seemed to lead an almost charmed life on their rambling farm outside a small town in upstate New York (familiar Oates territory).
