"Because we are poor...

Shall we be vicious?" - The White Devil by John Webster

Going back to this quote, seen at the very beginning of the novel, I realize that it is oddly appropriate for this novel. them does attempt to answer the question, Oates herself saying it was to be an extended answer to that question. By doing a little research on The White Devil via Wikipedia, I found that it was a revenge play whose central theme was to explore "the differences between the reality of people and the way they depict themselves as good, 'white', or pure". So essentially, the term "White Devil" was supposed to be ironic and contradictory. The play itself is very similar to them in that both are based loosely off real events, but also through the themes they chase. That is it however with the similarities.

I believe the question is about more than that though. I feel that what it really means to ask is "Because we are poor, should we want for more?" Poor can mean any number of things, not just pertaining to money. It could be that you don't have the one you love most, should you be vicious and vindictive because of it? Oates answers that through the love story of Jules and Nadine, though it was more of a tragedy than anything else. Nadine, who loves Jules more than life itself, attempts to kill them both so that they could somehow die together . Because she felt that she was unloved by the one she wanted most, did she have the right to take it out on him? Its not something you can really answer, considering Nadine was crazy and Jules equally so for wanting her anyway. But that's love.

Then Loretta, was she wronged to have to have lived a life raising her kids, and herself, essentially alone? Then to have her kids leave her and then no longer want anything to do with her, is that what her life was supposed to be? Waking up next to a dead boy changed her life, and was she "vicious" because of it? no, if anything she was the best example of them all of how to roll with the punches life sent her way. She had four kids, two husbands, a father, and a brother, all of whom turned their back on her at one point in her life, yet she moved on with her life and was happier them then all because of it.

Really, the underlying moral to this American tale. Deal with what life gives you, because you can't do anything with the circumstances given to you. All you can do is try and change your life and the world around you. The race riots, moving, a new life in the country, they all have to do with change. And that truly is answer to the question "Because we are poor, shall we be vicious?". Because we are poor, all we can do is change.