The short stories He by Katherine Anne Porter (1927) and Heat by Joyce Carole Oates (1989) share many similarities as Oates tended to re-imagine the works of classic writers. However, despite a number of similarities in each work with respect to setting, themes, and character, there are also a number of distinctions between them.
In He, we are treated to the Whipple family, a poor rural agrarian family that can barely keep afloat due to the struggles of farm life and their abject poverty. The family consists of Mrs. Whipple, a woman of fierce pride who refuses to accept charity and continually worries about the neighborsÆ opinions of her homemaking. Mr. Whipple is a rather detached father who is emotionally removed from the family. As Mrs. Whipple suggests, ôPeople donÆt expect so much of fathers, some way,ö (Porter 1927). Their three children, Adna, Emily, and ôHeö add to the economic burdens faced by Mr. and Mrs. Whipple. ôHeö is mentally challenged, though he is the best worker on the farm and better than the other two children at dealing with the struggles the family endures. Eventually ôHeö is institutionalized from complications suffered due to a fall on the ice.
In Heat, we are treated to two families, the Kunkels and the Whipples. The Kunkel family includes eight children, including a set of precocious and mischievous twins named Rhea and Rhoda. The Whipple family owns an ice company where they employ their mentally slow son Roger. Roger Whipple is described by the narrator as reserved rather than mentally challenged, ôHe wasnÆt simpleminded exactly, like the others in that class. He was watchful, he held back,ö (Oates 1989). Eventually Roger Whipple is institutionalized for life, after being accused of the murder of the Kunkel twins.
The two stories share much in common. Both Roger Whipple and He are often isolated from the rest of the family. Roger keeps to himself most of the time and h...