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Parents-children relationship
Parents-children relationship
Parents-children relationship
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Joyce Carol Oates began her short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?,” with a 15 year old girl named Connie whose mother that had always compared her to her sister June. This gave the reader a chance to establish a connection with Connie. Since almost every teenager has felt a comparison to another sibling at least once in their life, unless they were an only child, but then they were probably compared to family friend’s child. Her mother would say things like “Why don’t you keep your room clean like your sister?” or “How’ve you got your hair fixed – what the hell stinks? Hair spray? You don’t see your sister using that junk” (Oates, 1). Perhaps this is the reason that Connie has created a fantasy against the reality of the life she lives where “everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home” (Oates, 1). However, this is challenged when Connie meets the strange figure of Arnold Friend, who ultimately ends up changing Connie. It is stated within this short story that her father “was away at work most of the time and when he came home we wanted supper and he read the newspaper at supper and after supper he went to bed” (Oates, 1). This has only contributed to Connie’s unhappiness at home and has most likely impacted her need to find attention from men. For Connie, the escape from home would be going to a shopping plaza with her best girl friend to watch a movie or wander through stores. Some instances, they would cross the highway to a diner and during one particular visit, it is when she met Eddie and the “boy with shaggy black hair, in a convertible jalopy painted gold” (Oates, 2). However, the happiness Connie felt had nothing to do with Eddie or with the diner, bu... ... middle of paper ... ...efore and after encountering Arnold. This conclusion may lead to several different ideas. Perhaps Connie awakes and becomes aware of her actions and begins to change as a person. Perhaps Connie awakes and is traumatized by the realistic experience that her subconscious dream has created. The exact ending is unknown, leaving the reader to come to their own conclusions. Works Cited Gillis, Christina Marsden. "'WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?': SEDUCTION, SPACE, AND A FITIONAL MODE." Studies In Short Fiction 18.1 (1981): 65. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. Oates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” brainstorm-services.com. Stacy Tartar Esch, 2005. Web. 30 May 2011. 1-6. PDF file. Rubin, Larry. "Oates's WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?." Explicator 42.4 (1984): 57. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Mar. 2012.
Joyce Carol Oates’s short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” clearly illustrates the loss of innocence adolescents experience as they seek maturity, represented by Connie's dangerous encounter with Arnold Friend. Connie symbolizes the many teens that seek independence from their family in pursuit of maturity. Connie’s great desire to grow up is apparent from the beginning of the story, as she experiments with her sexuality. However, it is clear that Connie is not interested in pursuing a relationship, but relishes the maturity she feels after being with the opposite sex. After following a boy to his car, she was “gleaming with a joy that had nothing to do with Eddie or even this place” (2). This suggests that Connie's exploits
Quirk, Tom. "A Source for "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"" Nothing Abstract: Investigations in the American Literary Imagination. Columbia: University of Missouri, 2001. 191-98. Print.
The author begins her message with the title of her work, which conveys the idea of passages of time in life. The phrase "where are you going" suggests a time in the future, and the phrase "where have you been" evokes the past. Oates' message continues through the plot and characters. The basic elements of "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" are rooted in a true story of a 1965 crime. Occurring just a year before Oates' 1966 story was published, the "parallels between [th...
Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is about a young girl's struggle to escape reality while defying authority and portraying herself as a beauty queen; ultimately, she is forced back to reality when confronted by a man who symbolizes her demise. The young girl, Connie, is hell- bent on not becoming like her mother or sister. She feels she is above them because she is prettier. She wants to live in a "dream world" where she listens to music all day and lives with Prince Charming. She does not encounter Prince Charming but is visited by someone, Arnold Friend, who embodies the soul of something evil. Arnold Friend symbolizes "Death" in that he is going to take Connie away from the world she once knew. Even if she is not dead, she will never be the same person again, and will be dead in spirit. With the incorporation of irony, Oates illustrates how Connie's self-infatuation, her sole reason for living, is the reason she is faced with such a terrible situation possibly ending her life.
In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Oates wants to show a more intellectual and symbolic meaning in this short story. Oates has many symbolic archetypes throughout the short story along with an allegory. Oates uses these elements in her story by the selection of detail and word choice used. Oates does this because she wants to teach her audience a moral lesson.
The open ended design of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” leaves what happens to Connie to the reader’s interpretation but it also brings to question how it could’ve gone for her if she hadn’t been ignorant and self obsessed and whether if she would’ve been kidnapped either way. Everything can be good in moderation, whether it be the blissfulness of ignorance or the confidence that comes with small amounts of narcissism, but without moderation these ideals can be detrimental to what happens to those who go too
Joyce Carol Oates' short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" written in the late sixties, reveals several explanations of its plot. The story revolves around a young girl being seduced, kidnapped, raped and then killed. The story is purposely vague and that may lead to different interpretations. Teenage sex is one way to look at it while drug use or the eerie thought that something supernatural may be happening may be another. The story combines elements of what everyone may have experienced as an adolescent mixed with the unexpected dangers of vanity, drugs, music and trust at an early age. Ultimately, it is up to the reader to choose what the real meaning of this story is. At one point or another one has encountered, either through personal experience or through observation, a teenager who believes that the world is plotting against them. The angst of older siblings, peer pressure set upon them by their friends, the need for individualism, and the false pretense that at fifteen years of age, they are grown are all factors which affect the main character in this story.
Oates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”. Backpack Literature. An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy & Dana Gioia. 4th ed. New Jersey: Pearson, 2006. (323-336). Print.
When approached by Arnold Friend at first, she was skeptical but was still charmed by him. As she began to feel uneasy, Connie could have used her intuition to realize that he was trouble. Once she had been engaged by Arnold, her life was over. The influences on Connie and her lack of instilled reasoning led to her down fall. Her family’s fragmented nature was echoed in her actions; consequently, she was unable to communicate with her parents, and she was never was able to learn anything of significance. She felt abandoned and rejected, because no one took the initiative to teach her how to make good decisions. Connie was unable to mature until she was faced with death and self sacrifice. In the end, her situation made it difficult for her to think and reason beyond the position she was in. By not being able apply insight, she fell into Arnold Friends lure. Misguidance by the parents strongly contributed to Connie’s
Oates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Celestial Timepiece. July 2007. U of San Francisco. 15 Mar. 2008.
This paper will compare and contrast the short story written by Joyce Carol Oates, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” and Joyce Chopra’s very popular film, Smooth Talk, which is based upon the short story.
The human mind and its subconscious capacity can be disturbing. A person can only access a percentage of the knowledge and memories that their brain holds. The unknown in this case and many others is a large source of fear for certain individuals. To exemplify that fear the human body and mind make unconscionable decisions when under distress or in dire situations. Lack of control over the things that are unknown and reflex reactions are too rarely discussed and very present in society. Joyce Oates uses symbolism, imagery, and characters in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” to show that Connie is both curious and terrified of becoming an adult woman.
Gillis, Christina “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”: Seduction, Space, and A Fictional Mode.” Studies in Short Fiction. Vol. 18 Issue 1, (Winter 1981): 65 Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 November 2013.
Gale Kozikowski, Stan. " The Wishes and Dreams Our Hearts Make in Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'. " Journal of the Short Story in English. 33 (Autumn 1999): 89-103.
Reader Response Essay - Joyce Carol Oates's Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?