"We Were Worried About You"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines Oates's short story, "We Were Worried About You", which depicts a picture of the typical American family that experiences typical feelings of subjugation and suppression, primarily because white American families are characteristically patriarchal and rigidly conservative in nature. In particular, it analyzes how Bim, one of the main characters in the story, expresses suppression, reaction formation, and displacement as defense mechanisms to protect himself from both the love and the hate he feels for his dominant, oppressive father.

From the Paper:

"Another symbolic illustration of suppression within Oates' family in "We were" is the apparent conflict that Bim experiences for his father. He tries to suppress both love and hate for his father, for expressing love would mean "weakness" on Bim's part, not to mention his fear of being rejected when he shows his love for his father. Bim's hate is also suppressed mainly for fear of retribution from his father. It is evident that as a child, Bim is limited to express his feelings thus, suppression operates as his way of not acknowledging and hiding the existence of feelings of love and hate, which, at the same time, protects him from feelings of hurt and embarrassment."

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