This is a story of two NYU girls who consider themselves poets. They go into a bookstores on a snowy evening. One is narrating the story to the other, as if they were remembering that special day. As they browsed through the store, one spots a women who they end up thinking is Marilyn Monroe. This women is dressed in what could be a disquise of mens clothes. Soon, they gave up looking at books and followed her around the store. She seem to be unnoticed in the crowds as she browsed and picked out books. Marilyn seems to panick when it is time to pay for the books, and the two girls step in and offer the pay for them for her. She lets them and waits outside. In the end she never speaks to them, but hands them a book of poetry as a thank you.
When I read the story for the first time, the last sentence surprised me a bit."That magical evening of Marilyn Monroe, when I kissed you for the first time."(19)But, when I went back and reread it, I caught on a bit better and understood it more. It was 1956 and two girls were in love with each other. "...we were admittedly American middle class, and Caucasian, and female.(Yet we were not "conventional " females. In fact, we shared male contempt for the merely "conventional " female.)." (3) They did not go along with the norm of the way things should be. They then spot Marilyn Monroe in the store and she is dressed as masculine as they are. Wearing men's clothing. They were expecting someone to show up and be with her, but she was all alone. "Like us (we began to see)this Marilyn Monroe required no man." (9) The girls were intrigued by her, and they all were hiding something. I feel that the girls were hiding their relationship , and Marilyn was hiding from the public and trying to be normal.
One question I was thinking about was , why Marilyn? Out of all the famous people Oates had to choose from, I wonder why she picked her?
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I liked how you wrote this, and I think I can answer the Marilyn part. First off, she fits the time frame, obviously, but also Marilyn Monroe was really...how do I say this.. flamboyent, maybe? She was very feminine and really liked the men, and would be the last person one would expect to see in a bookstore, disguising herself as a man, reading a stack of large books. Most people at the time really idolized her- to use an already overused cliche, "all the girls wanted to be her, all the guys wanted to be with her." So to see her covering up her feminimity, reading a bunch of books, in some little bookstore, trying to be like everyone else. You did bring up the part where the girls mention about having contempt for the "conventional female," but Monroe was a conventional female, yet she had a different side to her, which I think shocked the girls.
ReplyDeleteAt least, this is what I thought. Did it help at all?
I also, think I could add a little bit to your question. I think the author chose Marilyn because she was not only an icon, but is also the last person that these girls believed that they could relate to. They were opposites. They did not expect to find Marilyn in a bookstore, dressed in mens' clothes, or without a man, for that matter. By choosing Marilyn, the author destroyed all preconceived notions that they might have had concerning Marilyn. In a sense, the author was trying to say that you can't "judge a book by its cover".
ReplyDeleteI'm in absolute agreement with Amber's answer to your question. In the beginning of the story, the author makes it very clear that these girls are not like most of the other girls they go to school with. So to see a cultural sex icon like Marilyn Monroe, at a bookstore, without any sort of posse. Be it man, fan boys/girls, etc. It allows the reader to see a different side of Monroe, a side that most people would typically not believe existed. It shows that we will sometimes stereotype people we don't know into groups, when the truth of the matter is, we don't know these people at all. No one person can be bullied into a group. Call it a life lesson if you will.
ReplyDeleteI had the same reaction to the story. Even though the symbolism was there the entire time connecting the girl’s nature and feelings, I was still unsure if what I thought was correct until the very end. I think that Oates does a good job of keeping the audience guessing basically until the last sentence. Her picking Marilyn Monroe was intentional and I think it serves the purpose of connecting everything together. After all Marilyn was a "sex" icon of the time. Great pickup on how the disguise is also used as symbolism on many different levels. I think that the fact that there was a known unspoken understanding between the three was also used symbolically. Showing the fact that the two girls had an unspoken love for each other yet both knew exactly what was going on. Looking back and on the story there is so much involved that I initially dismissed, but has a good connection to the story.
ReplyDeleteThanks for clarifying this story for me. I didn't realize the two girls were in love with each other. I thought they were just very close friends.
ReplyDeleteI know this post is a year old, but I just want to point out something that's often overlooked - Marilyn Monroe was actually a VERY intellectual woman. She was very outspoken about her revolutionary idea's about women and sexuality. She was married to playwright Arthur Miller. Joyce Carol Oates was obviously a big fan of hers. Her book Blonde is a terrific book about the life of Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn the sex symbol often overshadows Marilyn the intelligent and thoughtful woman. While she's absolutely GORGEOUS, it's just really too bad. To me, what she has said / stood for in her lifetime is a great part of her whole allure.
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