Analyzing Joyce Carol Oates Four Summerss

Critical Analysis of Joyce Carol Oates’s Short Story “Four Summers”
“Four Summers” is a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates that describes four periods of time in which the narrator and main character Sissie spends summers at her family’s lake house. This story marks Sissie’s transition from adolescence to adulthood. During these four summers, Sissie encounters obstacles holding her back from her aspirations, such as her family background, and she must learn from her parents’ mistakes and move on with her life. Oates develops style through the presence of imagery, use of diction, and point of view to illustrate how family dynamics affect emotional development.
Through the presence of imagery in “Four Summers,” Oates showcases style to

reflect on Sissie’s emotional development from childhood to adulthood. In particular, symbolic imagery is used to highlight the miserable upbringing the protagonist Sissie encounters during her childhood years and her scorn for having to live life with her immature and often drunk parents. For example, when Sissie is talking about a woman they are drinking with, she says, “Her face is blotched now, some parts pale, and some red” (Oates 288). Sissie’s use of imagery describes her first impressions about the people around her, displaying how beer can affect one’s state of mind. In addition the use of it show Sissie’s rough upbringing, imagery is also showcased “to suggest the situation of Sissie and others like her” (Four 112). For example, Oates compares Sissie’s situation to that of a blackbird trapped with no way to escape by stating that, “If it could get free it would fly and be sage but the scum holds it down” (291). This is an accurate connection to the fact that Sissie desperately wants to escape her past and avoid taking the path her parents took, yet her family, represented as the scum, is holding her back and keeping her from accomplishing this goal. According to The New York Times Book Review, Richard Gilman states that this story “creates a verbal excitement, a sense of language used not for the expression of previously attained insights or perceptions but for new imaginative reality” (Four 112). This story displays many uses of imagery because Sissie’s age reflects a different perspective on life than that of her parents. Using imagery, Oates develops the characters and illustrates Sissie’s behaviors and feelings towards her family.
In addition to the presence of imagery, style is also shown through the use of diction, revealing the immaturity of the characters.

The characters, most prevalently Sissie’s parents, use slang and informal words when talking to their children and among each other. This is due to the fact that her parents have not had a proper education in this time period and therefore lack the knowledge of proper grammar and vocabulary. For example, one of their children, Frank states, “Them kids are going out” (Oates 285). It is inevitable that Frank would use improper grammar because it reflects on what his parents have taught him throughout his childhood years. All of the children are keenly aware of what their parents have taught them, so their parents are affecting their development. The characters are looking for an escape, but there is no way out in their society. According to literary critic Keith Cushman, the beginning of the first section reflects “the child’s dim perception of the mysterious workings of the adult world” (116). There is an aspect of fear portrayed in the story because Sissie worries she will become just like her parents, so she aims to become more aware of her surroundings. For example, the use of the word “afraid” is used in almost every section to show the detachment she feels from her family. Oates uses informal and slang words to show if children follow their fathers and mothers in their childhood years, they form certain habits, therefore essentially affecting emotional

development.
Another effect of the use of diction on the style of “Four Summers” is the denotative and harsh use of words to showcase the impact of alcohol on emotional development. The main complication detaching Sissie and her siblings from their parents is drinking alcohol, especially beer. The reason for the use of heavy drinking is the fact that to their parents, beer helps them escape from the stresses of life. According to literary critic Chris Semansky, “The father’s anger at his children for needing attention and the children’s anger at the father for not providing it are also traits of a family marked by alcoholism” (114). However, the children are also affected emotionally because the adults yell at them or curse as a result. For example, when the parents are drinking beer and their children are begging them to drive the boat, the mother Lenore asked the father Frank, “For Christ’s sake, get them off me” (Oates 286). The rash behavior of the adults affects the children’s behavior in the future because they learn from their parents’ words. In addition, the children Frank, Sissie, and Jerry were practically raised at the Lakeside Bar, which reflects on their rough upbringing. The parents drink because they are broken and do not consider how their actions could possible affect their children’s lives, feeling trapped and unloved. Sissie compares beer to death while asking the question, “Why do they grow old so quickly, sitting at kitchen tables with bottles of beer?” (302). Beer and death both promote fear and people become older when drinking too much alcohol. Her fear is at its height when the cruel parents basically force Sissie to drink alcohol, while mocking her and yelling at her for spilling beer. After this turning point in her life, Sissie is transformed into a younger version of them. The harsh words of her parents reflect on the children’s perceptions on moral behavior causing their emotional development to spiral.
Another category of style used in the story is point of view, which is first person throughout the four sections. Sissie is the narrator, which reflects her simple use of words and sentence structure. As a result, the readers only understand her through her own thoughts and never outside of her descriptions. For example, when she says, “I am pretty, but my secret is that I am pretty like everyone else is,” this is her belief about what has been taught, so it is not necessarily true, but she convinces the readers that it is a fact (Oates 300). The first section establishes point of view, creating a view of suspense for readers. The readers have a desire to see the result of Sissie’s age transition on her emotional growth. However Cushman suggests “Four Summers” has a central theme that “people grow older but cannot change” (116). Because the narration is first person, it displays Sissie’s personality and also demonstrates her perception of the world and society around her. Sissie wants to stand up to her parents but she chooses not to because of fear and doubt, until it is too late to correct past mistakes. As the story progresses, Sissie becomes more self conscious because she is trying to escape a life that parallels her parents. This is shown through her words when she says, “Why am I afraid?” (Oates 300). The first person point of view enables the audience to grasp an inward perspective about life without a role model, and how it affects emotional development.
The next distinction that makes point of view one of the most crucial points of style in this story is the fact that Sissie’s language and perceptions reflect her year of age. Throughout “Four Summers,” Oates never tells the readers how old Sissie is in her years of transition, leaving the readers to guess her age based on her thoughts about her surroundings (Semansky 113). In the first section, the narrator uses simple sentence structure, which resembles language a young child would say. For example, when writing about her mother, Sissie says, “Her hair is long and pretty” (Oates 284). From this description, the readers can infer that Sissie is around five or six years old. There is a change in emotional development at the conclusion of section one, as Sissie discovers and has an awareness there is death in the world. The second phase of her life is a few years later, and although she neglects to say her age, she describes her surroundings more vividly. The third section marks her transition to becoming more of an individual, because she shows an audacious behavior. For example, when she is at Lakeside Bar with her parents and they are being obnoxious she says, “How loud they are, my parents” (295). In this stage of her life, she is embarrassed by her parents, which she would have never mentioned as a young child in their care. In the last phase of the story, Sissie is an adult, who has a new outlook on the world. She persuades herself she has all that she wanted: she's married and pregnant, yet she realizes she has followed her parents footsteps in marrying an alcoholic and getting pregnant that early in her life at age nineteen. The stages of the narrator’s life display her emotional development, and how it is affected by her family and their values.
By using the presence of imagery, diction, and point of view, Oates creates style to illustrate that upbringing alters people’s perspectives about society. The presence of imagery showcases Sissie’s rough childhood through her thoughts on her surroundings. The use of diction reflects the poorly educated people in this particular time period and setting. Point of view enables the audience to grasp the age and understanding of the narrator. Overall the main opinion portrayed in “Four Summers” is no matter how hard someone wants to escape from the lives of their parents, they may be predestined to repeat them.