The Tryst by Joyce Carol Oates, 1980
The magic trick:
Using point of view to make a point
This is a wonderful example of using point of view to make a point.
“The Tryst” takes us through a romantic affair, always only from the perspective of the man. And of course I can only truly speak for my own reaction through this story, but I suspect the effect is the same for most readers: the story lulls us into only considering the affair’s potential problems or outcomes for the man.
The woman is mere foil. For him, she represents a beacon of laid back cool; youthful, bohemian swagger. So we see her in the same way.
The dramatic conclusion then proves shocking to the man and reader alike, as we both are shocked into considering the woman’s point of view for the first time.
And that’s quite a trick on Oates’s part.
The selection:
I don’t ask you about your family, the girl pointed out. Why should you ask me about other men?
He admired her brusque, comic manner, the tomboyish wag of her foot.
Natural curiosity, he said.
Your wife! Your children! – I don’t ask, do I?
They were silent and he had the idea she was waiting for him to speak, to volunteer information. But he was disingenuous. Her frankness made him uncharacteristically passive; for once he was letting a woman take the lead, never quite prepared for what happened. It was a novelty, a delight. It was sometimes unnerving.
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