Struggle Between Self And Other

Joyce Carol Oates (1938—), one of the contemporary prominent writers in America, is a novelist, poet, playwright, critic, editor, and a writer-in-residence at Princeton University as well. As a writer who has a"Balzacian ambition", Oates has so far published more than one hundred books in various genres. Known for her productivity and versatility, Oates is especially good at the vivid description of characters by skillfully combining individual experiences and social reality, revealing human's confusion in life caused by social and family pressure.Wonderland, one of Oates's great early works, marks her transitional stage. Oates used to focus upon the mere description of reality with traditional methods and often solve the conflicts between individual and society by violence during the early phase of her writing. Wonderland has demonstrated her prone to make some changes in writing. Oates has shifted to narrate the characters'inner world and attempt to explore the ways of transcendence in reality. Since its birth in 1971, Wonderland has been also the general interest of critics. Generally speaking, most critics concentrate on its theme, structure, skills in narration, idea of control and order, its feminist consciousness as well as personality of the protagonist Jesse. However, Oates has paid much more attention to the description of Jesse, it's not enough to analyze it only from what kind of personality he possesses. Oates sets the forty years'changes in America into Jesse's life, from the economic crisis when Americans are in the 1930s to the social condition in the 1970s, rich in material but empty in spirit. This thesis aims to probe deeply into Jesse's image from the perspective of Self and Other in his life journey, revealing the ways to go beyond reality.This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter one is a brief introduction to Joyce Carol Oates and her Wonderland, literature review and the critical approach adopted in the thesis.Chapter two deals with Jesse's self-construction under the influence of Others. First, it examines Jesse's confusion after the deprivation of vital Other in his family. Then it investigates Jesse's passivity in the relationship between Self and Other and how does Jesse search for proper Other to get through turbulent society in an active way.Chapter three conducts a study on Jesse's image in relation with Others. Jesse's whole image is built through many Others'observation and judgment in the novel. Chapter four probes into Jesse's journeys of self-perception. Jesse is successful in business, however, he fails to get recognition from people. Finally, Jesse begins to seek himself both through a spiritual journey and a real one after suffering from Shelley's disappearance from home. Chapter five, the conclusion part, integrates the preceding analysis.Wonderland gives a comprehensive, all-embracing picture of the American society from the 1930s to the 1970s. Based on the analysis of Jesse's image from the perspective of Self and Other, this thesis aims to reveal that it's love rather than violence that leads people out of predicament.