"They All Just Went Away" by Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates defines what a home really is when she recalls an unforgettable experience from her childhood. She enjoyed exploring abandoned houses and one of those houses near her own belonged to the Wiedel's. Mr. Wiedel was an alcoholic who beat his wife and children, sexually abused his daughters, shot the family dog, Slossie and allegedly attempted to burn the house down while his family slept. As Oates remembers more and more of the Wiedel's story, she learns what makes a house a home and what gives something value.

Joyce Carol Oates
Photo taken by Marion Ettlinger

The essay takes place when Oates is still a child up until her first few years of high school in Millersport, New York. Her purpose in writing the essay is to show how a house can fail to be a home even when there are people inhabiting, and so starts the story of the Wiedels. She tells the story for an audience that either shares her same love for adventure, or is intrigued by tragedy. I relate to both, which is why I enjoyed the essay so much (despite the depressing tone). 

Oates uses intricate metaphors and imagery to describe the misfortune of the Wiedels. "For so many years the Wiedel house remained standing. There was something defiant about it, like someone who has been mortally wounded but will not die" (560). It was because of her adventurous spirit that Oates was able to discover this. Sometimes the most awful of events that grace the progression of time can produce the strongest results. The house, the Wiedel children who eventually went on to be admired, and the stories that will serve as a lesson to others.