Another very powerful novel from Oates dealing with "the impact of sexual violence, racism, brutality, and power on innocent lives and probes the persistence of stereotypes, the nature of revenge, the complexities of truth, and our insatiable hunger for sensationalism." This quote is from the bookflap from this novel that is a fictionalized account of the Tawana Brawley rape hoax. Brawley was an African American woman from New York who gained notoriety in November 1987 at age 15 when she falsely accused four white men of kidnapping and raping her over a four-day period. Al Sharpton helped in bringing the case to national prominence.
JCO tells the story of a 14-year-old girl, Sybilla Frye, who is found moaning in the basement of a closed factory in Pascayne, New Jersey. Sybilla had been beaten, tied up, and dog feces had been smeared on her face and hair. There were also racial epithets written in marker on her body. She claimed that she had been beaten by a group of white cops but she refused a rape evaluation at the local hospital. She and her mother just wanted the incident to be forgotten but news of it got out and before long a noted African-American Reverend, Marus Mudrick gets involved in the case and uses it as a cause against the white police and discrimination against the black society in New Jersey. Pascayne had been the site of race riots in 1967 and this incident is ready to spur more unrest 20 years later. So what is the truth and will it be brought to the surface?
I have read several of Oates' novels and short story collections and I'm always amazed at her ability to draw you into the heart of societal and family dysfunction. In this novel she delves deeply into the nature of racism and how distrust can affect both family and society as a whole. She explores "complex social, political, and moral themesâthe enduring trauma of the past, modern racial and class tensions, the power of secrets, and the decisions we all make to protect those we love." In the afterword to this novel, Oates states that this novel is strongly linked to her novel them where she researched the Detroit riot of 1967. I recently read them and would highly recommend it along with anything else written by Oates.
JCO tells the story of a 14-year-old girl, Sybilla Frye, who is found moaning in the basement of a closed factory in Pascayne, New Jersey. Sybilla had been beaten, tied up, and dog feces had been smeared on her face and hair. There were also racial epithets written in marker on her body. She claimed that she had been beaten by a group of white cops but she refused a rape evaluation at the local hospital. She and her mother just wanted the incident to be forgotten but news of it got out and before long a noted African-American Reverend, Marus Mudrick gets involved in the case and uses it as a cause against the white police and discrimination against the black society in New Jersey. Pascayne had been the site of race riots in 1967 and this incident is ready to spur more unrest 20 years later. So what is the truth and will it be brought to the surface?
I have read several of Oates' novels and short story collections and I'm always amazed at her ability to draw you into the heart of societal and family dysfunction. In this novel she delves deeply into the nature of racism and how distrust can affect both family and society as a whole. She explores "complex social, political, and moral themesâthe enduring trauma of the past, modern racial and class tensions, the power of secrets, and the decisions we all make to protect those we love." In the afterword to this novel, Oates states that this novel is strongly linked to her novel them where she researched the Detroit riot of 1967. I recently read them and would highly recommend it along with anything else written by Oates.
