Relationships In Joyce Carol Oates Black Girl/White Girl

Imagine you are a rebellious teenager, your relationship with your parents is weakening and your father is lecturing you on the truths of life. Your response is apathetic, yet decades later, you consistently recall what he told you that day and finally begin to understand. These important memories, realizations and relationships are what builds naïve individuals into mature adults. It can be argued that such relationships are the building blocks in the growth of individuals. Relationships between two humans develop over time and depending on how this development occurs, can lead to many changes throughout one’s life, such as personal growth and understanding. This idea is portrayed throughout Joyce Carol Oates’s, “Black Girl/White Girl”. In

Within the first pages, Oates developed and introduced the characters, established a setting and touched on the major events that impacted the main characters. Years later, as Genna introduced her book, which she claims held no title, about the death of Minette Swift, she stated, “Some truths are lies my father Maximilian Meade has said. My father was a man who acquired fame and notoriety for such inflammatory statements, that fill some of us with rage. No truths can be lies is my preferred belief. And so I begin, my text without a title in the service of justice” (2). At the start of the novel, through a memory a line Maximilian Meade, Genna’s father, once stated, Genna demonstrated her naivety and early disagreement with her father. The disagreement came about when Genna declared that she preferred to believe an entirely opposite concept from her father and her naivety shined through as we began to see her viewpoint on this matter change as the novel progressed. Throughout the novel, the stereotypical rebellious teenager attitude progressed to more a mature, understanding and accepting demeanor. It is evident that Genna was alluding to the idea that a statement such as “Some truths are lies” is “inflammatory” along with many other statements Maximillian Meade has made throughout his life and career.

Mid-way through her time in school, Genna appeared to experience a change of thought as Oates wrote, “Some truths are lies. Some lies are truths” (185). From what began as “No truths can be lies” (2) in the introduction of the novel, to “Some truths are lies” (185) mid-way through the novel, the changing mindset of Genna can be seen. Further, at the conclusion of the novel, her attitude continues to develop. Again, the repetitive nature of Oates writing style helps to emphasize and bring to light the development Genna carries throughout the novel. Looking throughout the entire length of the book, repetition is a key concept that Oates