Narrative Analysis

By Genevieve M. Nangit
February 27, 2024

Narrative Analysis of “City of Sand”: Norma Jeane’s nature of self through

her concrete physical facts

Norma Jeane’s nature of self through concrete physical facts was made visible during the burning
of the apartment of Gladys.

Sentences
In the night the smell of smoke — of ash! — a smell like burning trash and garbage in the
incinerator…Norma Jeane, who slept with Gladys, would have awakened immediately to
scramble from the bed panting and alert as any animal primed for self-survival; and often, in fact,
it was the child who ran to fetch water. For though this was a true alarm and upset in the middle
of the night it had become familiar enough to be a routine ritual emergency and to have evolved
a methodology. We were used to saving ourselves from being burned alive in bed. We’d learned
to cope. (Page 35)

Now, Norma Jeane cried, “Oh what if the house burns down m-mother? I forgot my doll!”
Gladys snorted in contempt, “That doll! You’d be fortunate if it did burn. It’s a morbid
attachment.” (Page 38)

Analysis
At the age of eight, Norma Jeane learned how to cope with emergency. However, despite her
instinct to survive that resemble of an adult, she still remain attached to the doll she received on
her birthday.

Reference
“Blonde” by Joyce Carol Oates. 2000. 4th Estate: London, UK