In “Little Snow White” and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, something that consistently stands out is envy and narcissism. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” demonstrates a sort of envy because Connie, who is also completely narcissistic, often looks at others to compare their beauty to hers. This can be seen as envious because if she does find someone who is prettier or has a “better-looking” feature than her, she will do what she can- such as alter her looks- to become more beautiful than that other person. In “Little Snow White” the theme of envy is obvious through her Step-Mother. She is so envious of her own step daughter that she is capable of killing Snow White just to become the “fairest of them all” (which she tries to do multiple times).
Narcissism in “Little Snow White” is demonstrated from both the step-mother and Snow White herself. As Bettelheim mentioned, “Snow White’s narcissism nearly undoes her as she gives in twice to the disguised queen’s enticements to make her look more beautiful, while the queen is destroyed by her own narcissism” (page 203). The first two attempts that her step-mother, “the queen” made to kill Snow White were feeding her narcissism because she was trying to enhance her beauty with things that were being sold to her. Snow White was already so beautiful, but she gave into material things-a corset and a comb- that would add on to her beauty (as a corset is known for enhancing a woman’s body, and a comb that would make her hair add to her beauty). Meanwhile, her step-other’s narcissism clearly shows through her trying to bring Snow White to her demise, just to make her the most beautiful on the land, and the anger that becomes of her when finding out that she is still very much alive.
