Four Summers: An Illustration of a Stressed Mother-Daughter Relationship

Readers are introduced to Joye Carol Oates’s short story Four Summers by the narrator and protagonist Sissie, a young girl who is on vacation with her family at a lake. Throughout the story, which is broken into four segments that take place at the same lake over the course of many years, readers witness the life and maturing of Sissie.

One of the main themes of this story is family and its relationship and impact, especially in regards to how parents can influence their children. The large breaks in between sections of this story allow readers to witness the evolution of Sissie’s family and her character, which is important because the growing similarities between Sissie and her own mother are striking. For example, at the beginning of the story, Sissie describes her mother’s hair as “long and pretty” (43). In the final portion of the story, Sissie describes herself in a similar way. “My hair is long, down to my shoulders,” she pronounces. “I am pretty, but my secret is that I am pretty like everyone is” (54).

This is significant because, although she is pretty, Sissie does not seem satisfied with herself, which may be because of her stressed relationship with her mother that was blatantly referred to in the third section of the story, when Sissy is reflecting on a photograph she saw of her mother when she was younger. “In the photograph she was pretty, almost beautiful, but I don’t believe it,” explains Sissie to the readers. “Not really. I can’t believe it, and I hate her” (51).

The hatred that was once directed toward her mother eventually turns into self-hatred that, instead of being accepted, is manipulated into a false sense of contentment. “I let my hand fall onto my stomach to remind myself that I am in love,” Sissie concludes in the last paragraph of the story. “I am in love with our house and our life and the future and even this moment—right now—that I am struggling to live through” (56).