Week 2 Three Girls by Joyce Carol Oates

Pam Garner
SSRJ #2 – Three Girls by Joyce Carol Oates

I thought that this piece was very good and it brought to me recollection when I was a young self absorbed young girl. The element that really stood out to me was the coming of awareness of the two girls in a world bigger than themselves.
There was a great deal of symbolism in the story as the girls were young, nerdy perhaps not very attractive college students confined to their little world. They spot Marilyn Monroe trying to remain anonymous in the bookstore and they suddenly become kindred spirits connected to their love of books. Here are these homely, awkward girls protecting this worldly, glamorous woman. All of them bound together like a book in the common love they share.
The author seems to be telling us that these young women in their love of books and lack of awareness of life around them grow up that night and form a bond that is bigger than the love of books and their common goals. All of us have that moment that we pass from our self focused youth to life beyond ourselves.
Do the girls change from their nerdy, plain selves or do they transform into a glamorous bookworm such as Marilyn Monroe?