Stalking
by Joyce Carol Oates
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See Also
- Theory of Short Fiction (Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Second Revised Edition)
- Joyce Carol Oates (Critical Survey of Poetry: American Poets)
- Joyce Carol Oates (Cyclopedia of World Authors, Fourth Revised Edition)
- Joyce Carol Oates (Identities & Issues in Literature)
- Joyce Carol Oates (The Sixties in America)
- Joyce Carol Oates (Critical Survey of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition)
- Joyce Carol Oates (Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Second Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Joyce Carol Oates
- First Published: 1972
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: The early 1970’s
- Setting: Apparently a U.S. suburb
- Characters: Gretchen, The Invisible Adversary
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
- Subjects: Girls, 1970's, United States or Americans, Adolescence, Teenagers, Theft, Suburban life
- Locales: United States, North America
The Story
On a cold, gritty November day, Gretchen follows the Invisible Adversary through muddy fields and past vacant buildings to a shopping mall, then to a Big Boy restaurant, and, finally, to her own suburban home. It is a landscape littered with the debris of a burgeoning middle America, with its developing tract home subdivisions, detouring traffic, gas stations, banks, restaurants, and stores. The realistic portrayal of the landscape is infused with the sensibility of a young teenager who is so detached from her surroundings and other people that she displays an utter...
(The entire page is 1591 words.)
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