Joyce Carol Oates “Golden Gloves” Story

Yu-Tzu Lin Instructor Emily Plicka side 101 6, October 2012 In Joyce Carol Oates story Golden Gloves, it is close the process of a boy to becoming a man. This boy who was a natural with ill-shapen feet, he had couldnt walk until 3 eld old. His dad was a little shameful of him being handicapped. He didnt interchangeable people to touch him or help him. When he was eight, he had a surgery on his feet. He suffered a lot of distresss during his rehabilitation . His father took him to a boxing match and he fell in love with boxing right away.He told himself that He would box one solar day at the Golden Gloves tournament and people would see him standing thither in that ring, not in a wheelchair. He began his training at the YMCA. He worked out every day in order to persist in himself in the best shape. All he thought just about was boxing. He was told that he had talent and had a future. He won many local anaesthetic matches. At the young age of eighteen he boxed in the semi- finals of the Golden Gloves tournament, and it was the game that ended his boxing career. A few years later, he married a woman, Annemarie, who desired to have children so bad.She ever wanted to have a family unconstipated after her first abortion she quiet down persisted to be expectant again. Finally, Annemarie got pregnant again. They took natural childbirth classes together. simply her husband never told Annemarie about his past&8212about his amateur boxing. He even wasnt honest about his premature birth and deformed feet. It is a deep shame he struggles with. Joyce Carol Oates Golden Gloves story, the important graphic symbol struggles with peril, even as an heavy(a) who eventually achieves success and gladness in his career and marriage.His hazard haunts him his whole life through First, insecurity as a child, he was suffering a lot of pain from his deformed feet. He was being bullied by the kids at school. He would childs play them and appall them and do them cry when he got older. Those childhood experiences built up his personality more like shy, showing none of his emotions in him, even a little bit self-abased. As a child, there was not much things that he could do about it, so he keeps his hurt and anger bottled up inside. (P. 774) Second, as a boxer, he lies a take fire at night worrying about the punch out of nowhere and worries about disappointing his dad.When he was training at YMCA, he was constantly persuasion about what did some other people count on about him and if he challenged other boys, could he knock him out? He also practiced with boys that mogul be older than him. He improved himself, he knew his weaknesses. (p776) From that example shows that he was insecure that he would be fail. Although some readers might think that it showed his humility, real here is a mixture feeling of being humble and hydrophobic of not being the best boxer. His father made the statement any you have the talent or you dont, It cant be fake. (p. 776) this pointed out that he had to win to show that he had talent in boxing. Also his dad put bets on him and that gave him more pressure and upturned about letting his dad down. That is probably why he would wake up in the middle of the night and confused about himself. Here, Oates wrote His fists when he woke would be clenched so hard his fingernails would be cutting into his palms, his toes kink in tight and cramped as if til now deformed, secretly deformed. (p. 779) because character here was tangiblely healed, he was not crippled anymore.But he still had the same reaction as when he was crippled before. Moreover, the last word, secretly deformed, makes readers feel like that he is still deformed in some way. Maybe he is not physically deformed mayhap in deep down his heart, he is still that crippled boy. Third, he was also insecure as an adult in his strength &8212 revere the strength of his wife, her willingness to try again reminds him of his failure at eight een, and his insecurity haunts him. Annemarie, his wife, was miscarriage the first pregnancy. She suffered a lot physically and mentally.Annemarie was persistent to be pregnant again but he hesitated. Annemaries persistence made him think of his boxing career, made him think of his failure. The main character told himself that Its undecomposed physical after all it doesnt mean anything. Such failures of physical life dont mean anything. You take the blow thusly get on with living isnt that the history of the world? Of play it is. This part showed that he was trying to comfort himself and made himself feel come apart about trying again. And the next he said he is an adult now, not a boy any longer. (p. 82) He compared Annemaries miscarriage to his failure at eighteen, and he admired the strength of his wife and persuaded himself that he can take more now. Even though when the cross overdue in less than a week, he was still insecure about the punch out of nowhere. (p. 783) May be he was upset(a) about that he couldnt control what would happen next. Throughout his life, things were always happened unexpectedly. He hadnt been a fighter at all, merely a victim. (P. 783) This phrase from Oates story pointed out that his biggest insecurity is from life, since he was a premature baby who had deformed feet.He worked so hard to be able to walk he got bullied by other kids. When he finally became a boxer, he was worried about disappointing his dad, and failure in boxing. He still struggled with insecurity about things happened to his wife. Actually he had a good life when he grew up. But why does he continue to feel insecure in his life, in his happiness? Is it because deep down inside of him he is still that little boy with deformed feet that people pitted or made fun of? Hopefully, he would learn from strength of Annemarie. And maybe when their baby is born, he can feel more secure in his role as a father and a husband.