Visual Narrative of Self-Identity and the American Dream in Them

Joyce Carol Oates is an American author and recipient of many prestigious literary awards, including the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and the National Humanities Medal. One of her most famous novels is Them, which was first published in 1969. Them is a masterpiece by Joyce Carol Oates, which won the National Book Award in 1970. This candid work not only records and memories, but also reveals her reflections on some issues. This paper focuses on the visual narrative of photographic symbolism and the shattered dreams of individuals in social riots, revealing Oates’ approach to the historical events that occurred in Detroit, USA, in the 1960s, and the struggles of the lower-class families and individuals in Detroit at that time, and their subsequent considerations on social issues and race, as well as the root of some of her creative ideas.