Black Water

E381605

Black Water is a 1992 novella by Joyce Carol Oates that fictionalizes a Chappaquiddick-like political scandal through the harrowing, stream-of-consciousness account of a young woman trapped in a sinking car.

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All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Black Water canonical 4

Statements (51)

Predicate Object
instanceOf novella
author Joyce Carol Oates
awarded PEN Faulkner Award finalist
centralConflict A woman trapped in a sinking car struggles mentally and physically as she faces death.
characterBasedOn Edward M. Kennedy
surface form: Ted Kennedy
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
coverArtist Phil Rose
criticalReception generally positive
exploresEventType car accident
political scandal
exploresTheme responsibility and culpability
featuresCharacter The Senator
firstEditionFormat hardcover
genre fiction
political fiction
psychological fiction
hasAdaptation stage adaptation
hasISBN 9780525934257
hasLiterarySignificance Yes
inspiredBy Chappaquiddick incident
language English
literaryMovement contemporary American literature
mainCharacter Kelly Kelleher NERFINISHED
narrativeForm stream of consciousness
narrativePerspective third-person limited
narrativeStructure nonlinear
narrativeTechnique interior monologue
repetition
nominatedFor Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
pageCount about 160
partOf Joyce Carol Oates bibliography
plotSummary A young woman, Kelly Kelleher, accepts a ride from a powerful older senator, and their car crashes into water, trapping her as she reflects on her life and the events leading to the accident.
protagonistAge young adult
protagonistOccupation graduate student
protagonistPoliticalAffiliation Democrat
publicationYear 1992
publisher Dutton
setting Maine
targetAudience adult readers
theme abuse of power
death
guilt
media and politics
memory
political power
sexual exploitation
victimization of women
timeSpanOfAction primarily a few hours
usesForeshadowing Yes
usesMotif telephone calls
water

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Joyce Carol Oates notableWork Black Water
The Doobie Brothers notableWork Black Water
Beneath the Skin hasPart Black Water
Joyce notableWork Black Water
subject surface form: Joyce Carol Oates