Joyce Carol Oates on Life as a Mystery
Briefly

This story delves into the fundamentally unspeakable mysteries of human personalities in connection with each other after significant life events such as the loss of a spouse and remarriage. It explores how relationships can be rearranged and transformed, much like after an earthquake.
The narrative in 'Late Love' navigates through disturbed and unsettling nights where characters transform, raising questions of whether the husband is gaslighting or if the wife is experiencing nightmares. The story purposefully leaves the distinction ambiguous, engaging readers in the mystery.
The characters in the story, including the wife and husband, experience moments of revelation where they realize that the other person holds significant unknown aspects beneath the known facade. The metaphor of an eclipse is used to illustrate how only the lit dimensions are visible while the eclipsed parts remain mysterious and intuitive.
The narrative explores the wife's fear of asserting herself with her husband, reflecting on how women may find that even when they attempt to 'assert themselves,' their true self is not always acknowledged or valued in relationships.
Read at The New Yorker
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