Themes and message

Appearance and social expectations

In the short story “Nairobi” by Joyce Carol Oates, clothes and accessories play a very important part. Clothes are considered material goods, but also symbols of a person’s background. Since people tend to judge each other based on their clothes and appearance, Oliver and Ginny use this to project the image that they want other people to see. In Ginny’s case, the transformation is radical. Ginny’s clothes are a way in which she becomes a different person, and a whole new world is opened up to her.

The first step in Ginny’s transformation into Oliver’s upper-class girlfriend is the purchase of an “appropriate outfit” (l. 3). Ginny’s personal preferences are not taken into account (she would have preferred the jumpsuit), and Oliver decides on an Irish linen blazer, a pleated white skirt and a pale blue silk blouse. The chosen outfit is formal, business-like and gives the impression of a serious, trustworthy person. This impression is highlighted by Ginny’s hairstyle: “with her hair down like that, and her bangs combed low on her forehead, she looked like a ‘convent schoolgirl’.” (ll. 27-29).

Oliver is also careful about his own appearance: his steel-rimmed blue-tinted glasses make him look handsome (ll. 130-131), and his “blue-striped cotton tie” is also described by Ginny as “handsome” (l. 121). His appearance is less studied than Ginny’s – seen through her eyes, his “skin was slightly coarse; his ...