Genre
Literary Fiction / Historical Fiction
Reading Time
1152 min
Key Themes
See below
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In mid-20th century Detroit, a single mother's youthful dreams turn to regret as her children, Maureen and Jules, navigate poverty, racial tension, and violence in a fight for survival.
The story begins in the 1930s, introducing Loretta Wendall as a young, impressionable girl in Detroit's poor, violent neighborhoods. Her childhood lacks warmth or security, marked by neglect from her mother and a series of abusive or absent men. At a young age, Loretta is raped and becomes pregnant, giving birth to Jules. This early motherhood, along with her continued vulnerability and lack of guidance, sets a tragic course for her life. She moves through relationships, always looking for an escape from her grim reality, but finds only more hardship and disappointment. This reflects the harsh environment that shapes her and her future family.
Loretta's children, Jules and Maureen, grow up in extreme poverty, moving often between rundown apartments in Detroit. Jules, the older child, is sensitive and often volatile. He frequently clashes with his mother's various boyfriends and stepfathers, especially Howard, a brutal and abusive man. Maureen, initially a quiet and observant child, internalizes much of the family's problems. Their home is a battleground of domestic disputes, money troubles, and emotional neglect. Loretta, despite moments of affection, is largely overwhelmed and cannot provide a stable environment, leaving the children to largely care for themselves amid constant threats of violence and destitution.
As Jules enters adolescence, his restlessness and anger lead him to the streets of Detroit. He joins local gangs and starts engaging in petty theft, break-ins, and increasingly violent fights. His actions are often impulsive, driven by a desire for money, respect, and an escape from his terrible home life. He becomes involved in a particularly brutal incident, a robbery that becomes a murder, forcing him to flee Detroit and live as a fugitive. This period marks a major turning point, solidifying his path away from normal society and deeper into a life of crime and constant movement.
Maureen, more interested in school than Jules, sees education as her possible salvation. She does well in school, despite the instability at home, and develops a sharp mind and a desire for a different life. She tries to find stability through relationships, first with a high school teacher, Mr. Sissman, which ends badly, and later with a seemingly respectable, older man, Bernie. These relationships, however, often repeat patterns of control and disappointment, reflecting her deep insecurities and lack of a healthy emotional base. She tries to rise above her origins but finds herself repeatedly pulled back into cycles of dependence and disillusionment.
The family's unstable dynamic peaks with Loretta's abusive husband, Howard. Howard's brutality towards Loretta and the children, especially Jules, ends in a horrific incident where Jules, in a rage and self-defense, brutally attacks Howard. This act of violence, a desperate response to years of abuse, forces Jules to flee Detroit to avoid arrest. The incident leaves Loretta further traumatized and isolated, and Maureen deeply affected by the raw violence she has seen, solidifying her wish to escape her family's destructive patterns. The event scatters the family and deepens their individual struggles.
After fleeing Detroit, Jules lives a transient life, moving from city to city, taking odd jobs, and often resorting to petty crime to survive. He experiences periods of intense loneliness and alienation, mixed with brief connections and moments of self-reflection. His travels show him different parts of American society, but he remains an outsider, unable to form lasting bonds or find a sense of belonging. His life is a continuous struggle against poverty, the law, and his own inner demons, reflecting the rootlessness and violence that defined his early life and continues to haunt him as he searches for meaning or escape.
Maureen marries Bernie, an older, seemingly stable man, hoping to finally achieve the respectable, secure life she wants. However, the marriage quickly proves to be another source of disappointment. Bernie is controlling and emotionally distant, and Maureen finds herself increasingly isolated and unhappy. The pressure to keep up an illusion of normalcy, along with unresolved trauma from her childhood, leads to a severe mental breakdown. She experiences intense anxiety, paranoia, and deep despair, ending in a period of hospitalization. Her breakdown shows how her past continues to affect her present, despite her efforts to escape it.
The novel ends with the devastating Detroit Race Riots of 1967. The city, already a volatile mix of racial tension and economic disparity, explodes into widespread violence, looting, and arson. Loretta, still in the city, finds herself caught in the chaos, experiencing raw fear and destruction firsthand. Jules, having returned to Detroit, becomes involved in the riots, both as a participant and a victim. His life reflects the city's descent into anarchy. Maureen, despite trying to distance herself, cannot escape the profound impact of these events, as the riots symbolize the ultimate breakdown of social order and the harsh realities that have always defined her family's existence.
After the riots, Jules's life remains a cycle of violence, imprisonment, and brief, often destructive, relationships. He struggles with his inner demons, his past crimes, and a persistent inability to find a place in society. Despite his tough exterior, there are glimpses of his underlying sensitivity and a longing for love and acceptance, especially in his interactions with women. However, his violent tendencies and inability to trust ultimately ruin any chance of lasting happiness. His journey shows the tragic fate of many caught in the cycle of poverty and crime, leading to an uncertain and often bleak future.
Following her mental breakdown and the end of her marriage, Maureen tries to build an independent life. She works various jobs, tries to continue her education, and seeks to understand her complex psychology. She grapples with her family's past problems, her mother's erratic behavior, and her brother's violent path. While she achieves some autonomy and self-awareness, she remains deeply scarred by her past. The novel concludes with Maureen's ongoing struggle for self-definition and peace, suggesting that while she may never fully escape 'them' – her family and her past – she continues to fight for her own identity.
The Supporting
Loretta's arc is largely one of stagnation and decline, marked by repeated failures to escape her circumstances and a deepening resignation to her fate.
The Protagonist
Jules's arc is a tragic descent into a life of crime and transient existence, marked by brief moments of hope and connection, ultimately leading to a bleak future.
The Protagonist
Maureen's arc is one of continuous struggle for autonomy and self-definition, marked by mental health crises and a persistent effort to understand and overcome her past.
The Antagonist
Howard's arc is static; he remains a consistently violent and destructive force, ultimately driven away by Jules's retaliatory violence.
The Supporting
Bernie's arc is limited; he serves as a catalyst for Maureen's breakdown, failing to provide the promised stability.
The Supporting
Mr. Sissman's brief arc demonstrates the corrupting influence of power and vulnerability, leading to Maureen's further disillusionment.
The Mentioned
Her arc is primarily a backstory element, setting the stage for Loretta's own struggles.
The Mentioned
His arc is entirely in the past, a foundational trauma for Loretta and Jules.
The Mentioned
His arc is entirely in the past, contributing to Maureen's early instability.
The novel shows how poverty and violence are deeply linked, creating a seemingly inescapable cycle for the Wendall family. Loretta's early life of deprivation and abuse leads her to repeat similar patterns, often as a victim. Jules's criminal activities are direct responses to his poverty and the violence he experiences at home and on the streets. Maureen's struggle for education and stability is constantly undermined by financial insecurity and emotional trauma from her family's background. The Detroit slums are not just a setting but an active force, shaping destinies and limiting choices, showing how systemic issues trap individuals across generations.
“''Them' was all the people who were not us, the people who were not family, who were not blood. Them was the world outside, the world that wanted to hurt you.'”
Each member of the Wendall family, especially Jules and Maureen, struggles with a deep sense of not belonging and a desperate search for identity. Jules, through his transient life of crime, seeks a place where he can feel powerful or accepted, even in a criminal underworld. Maureen constantly tries to define herself outside her family's poverty and problems, trying to create a new identity through education, marriage, and self-reflection. Loretta, too, seeks identity through her relationships, however brief. Their struggles highlight the human need for connection and a sense of self, often frustrated by their harsh realities.
“'She did not know who she was, only that she was not them, not her mother, not Jules, not any of them people.'”
While 'them' explores external forces shaping the family, it also looks at the complex and often destructive nature of their internal relationships. Love within the Wendall family is often mixed with resentment, violence, and a desperate need for something they cannot give each other. Loretta's love for her children is real but overwhelmed by her own trauma, leading to neglect. Jules's fierce protectiveness of Maureen sometimes appears as control. Maureen's longing for her mother's approval is tied to deep anger. The family unit, meant to be a source of comfort, often becomes a primary source of pain, showing how trauma can corrupt even the most basic bonds.
“'Love was what happened between people, and it was always a kind of violence.'”
The psychological cost of poverty, violence, and neglect is a main theme, especially clear in Maureen's severe mental breakdown and Jules's unstable emotional state. Maureen's anxiety, paranoia, and depression are direct results of her traumatic childhood and her inability to make peace with her past and her hopes. Jules's impulsive violence and self-destructive tendencies can be seen as signs of deep anger and unaddressed trauma. The novel clearly shows how unresolved psychological wounds can worsen, leading to mental illness and repeated destructive behaviors, making it hard for characters to truly escape their pasts, even when physically removed from their origins.
“'The past was not past, it was always present, pressing in on her.'”
'Them' explores social class in America and the major challenges of moving up. The Wendall family's constant struggle against poverty highlights the rigid barriers of class. Maureen's desire for education and a respectable life represents a desperate hope to escape her working-class origins, but she consistently finds herself pulled back by her family's circumstances and her own deep-seated insecurities. The story shows how class is not just about wealth but also about education, opportunities, and a deep sense of self-worth often denied to those at the bottom of the social hierarchy. The contrast between Maureen's hopes and her reality emphasizes how difficult it is to rise above one's birthright in a stratified society.
“'To be clean, to be educated, to be safe—these were the dreams of another world, not hers.'”
The narrative frequently delves into characters' unfiltered thoughts and feelings.
Oates employs stream of consciousness, particularly with Maureen, to immerse the reader directly into the characters' inner worlds. This device allows for a raw, unfiltered portrayal of their anxieties, desires, and fragmented perceptions, reflecting the chaotic and often traumatic nature of their experiences. It blurs the line between objective reality and subjective experience, emphasizing the psychological impact of their environment. For instance, Maureen's mental breakdown is conveyed through a torrent of disjointed thoughts and fears, giving the reader immediate access to her deteriorating state of mind and the pervasive influence of her past.
The story unfolds through a series of distinct, often violent, vignettes rather than a linear plot.
The novel's episodic structure mirrors the fragmented and unpredictable nature of the Wendall family's lives. Rather than a straightforward, cause-and-effect plot, the narrative jumps between significant, often traumatic, events and periods in the characters' lives. This creates a sense of relentless struggle and the cyclical nature of their misfortunes. Each episode, though sometimes loosely connected, builds upon the emotional and psychological weight of the previous ones, contributing to the overall sense of despair and the difficulty of escaping their circumstances. It emphasizes that life for 'them' is less a coherent narrative and more a series of brutal, disconnected occurrences.
While largely third-person, Maureen occasionally addresses the reader directly.
Although primarily told in a close third-person perspective, there are moments where Maureen directly addresses the reader, breaking the fourth wall. This device serves to personalize her struggle and create a direct, intimate connection with her experience. It underscores her agency as a narrator and her desperate attempt to make sense of her past and present. By speaking directly, Maureen asserts her voice and her humanity, challenging the reader to confront the harsh realities she describes and inviting empathy for her journey, making her quest for understanding feel all the more immediate and poignant.
Early acts of aggression and trauma hint at future destructive events.
Oates frequently uses early instances of violence and trauma to foreshadow the escalating brutality and tragedy that will define the characters' lives. Loretta's early rape and subsequent pregnancies, and Jules's early displays of aggression, are not isolated incidents but rather portents of the deeper cycles of violence and despair to come. This device creates a pervasive sense of dread and inevitability, suggesting that the characters are trapped by their environment and their own natures. It reinforces the theme of the inescapable cycle of poverty and violence, where past traumas dictate future outcomes.
“Everything was a lie. The houses, the clothes, the food, the jobs, the schools, the dreams, the God, the love, the hate, the hope, the despair. It was all a lie. And it was all true.”
— Reflecting on the disillusionment and harsh realities of the characters' lives.
“The greatest cruelty is our own blindness to the world as it is.”
— Exploring the theme of ignorance and self-deception in the face of suffering.
“Love was a word, a dream, a promise, a lie, a betrayal, a death. It was everything and nothing.”
— Considering the complex and often destructive nature of love within the family.
“History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.”
— A character's struggle to escape the past and its lingering effects.
“You can't get away from who you are. No matter what you do, no matter where you go, you carry it with you.”
— The inescapable nature of one's identity and background.
“The city was a monster, swallowing them whole, spitting them out, leaving them changed and scarred.”
— Describing Detroit's impact on the characters' lives and their struggles.
“Every family has its secrets, its madness, its quiet despair.”
— A commentary on the hidden aspects of family life.
“They were always waiting for something to happen, something to change, something to save them. But nothing ever did.”
— The characters' passive hope and ultimate disappointment.
“The past isn't dead. It isn't even past. It's right here, now, breathing down your neck.”
— Emphasizing the persistent influence of past events on the present.
“Beauty was a weapon, a curse, a fragile gift that could be taken away at any moment.”
— Exploring the double-edged sword of physical attractiveness, particularly for women.
“To be born poor was to be born into a kind of warfare, a constant battle for survival.”
— Highlighting the relentless struggle faced by those in poverty.
“Sometimes you had to lie to survive. Sometimes you had to believe your own lies to keep going.”
— The role of self-deception and fabrication in enduring hardship.
“The world was a dangerous place, and the only way to get through it was to be tougher than it was.”
— A character's hardened perspective on navigating a hostile environment.
“They built their lives on sand, and the tide kept coming in, washing everything away.”
— A metaphor for the instability and fragility of the characters' existence.
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