[5][6] Upon the Sweeping Flood "achieves in its best stories the distinctively violent yet compassionate vision that would inform her later fiction" according to literary critic Greg Johnson.

[7] Kirkus Reviews was "disappointed" at the lurid narratives involving "hideous incidentals" which they report mars the collection.

Acknowledging that Oates is a notable author, the article observes that the volume suggests "An on-going talent—idling.

"[8] Joanne V. Creighton points out both the differences and the similarities between the two volumes: Less often set in Eden County than the stories in By the North Gate, those in Upon the Sweeping Flood embody some of the same themes: the groping of inarticulate people for order and meaning and the discovery of hidden, unlovely depth of passion or of emptiness within one's self.

Oates exhibits here the beginning of her intense preoccupation with both the tenacious bands of the family and the mysterious emotions of love.