logo

60 pages 2 hours read

Joyce Carol Oates

Blonde: A Novel

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2000

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Part 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 4: “Marilyn: 1953-1958”

Part 4, Chapter 35 Summary: “Famous”

The Studio purchases Gentlemen Prefer Blondes for Marilyn to star in, but she turns down the role because of her pregnancy. She no longer believes she can trust anyone who knew her before she became famous. She realizes that even though she is invited to the fancy Hollywood parties, all of these people still define her as promiscuous. Dr. Bender tells Norma Jeane that her mother suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, and Norma Jeane has come to realize her mother will never be released. When Norma Jeane asks the doctor if the condition is inherited, he tells her that it sometimes is.

Part 4, Chapter 36 Summary: “The Magi”

The third-person narrator explains the role of the press and how it is their job to spread Hollywood’s news.

Part 4, Chapter 37 Summary: “Can’t Get Enough of Polish Sausage”

The FBI has a file on Norma Jeane—a list of many men she is suspected of having had sexual relations with.

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text