In Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Connie, a fifteen-year-old woman, is introduced as pretty, daydreaming and curious about men. In the course of the story, Connie loses her pretended self-confidence in public and simultaneously regrets that she has provoked men's sexual desires when she realizes her still apparent unstableness and sexual immaturity in the presence of Arnold Friend. Unfortunately, her insecurity finally enables Arnold to change Connie’s pretended self-confidence into a defenseless attitude. Consequently, Connie is a girl in a woman’s body: First, Connie is narcissistic and only concerned with her outer appearance in public and her effect on men. Second, Connie is an immature young woman, based on her understanding of a relationship with a young man. Third, Connie behaves as an anxious child because she is not able to handle Arnold Friend's appearance and to call for help. Connie’s narcissistic behavior and her knowledge that she is very popular causes her to pretend a self-confident, mature woman who follows the aim to be in a relationship and who enjoys every single moment of attention (Oates 120). Connie almost plays with different personalities to perfect her attractiveness because "[E] everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home: her walk, which could be childlike and bobbing, [...] her laugh which was cynical [...] at home [...] but highpitched and nervous anywhere else [...]" (Oates 119-20). Through this charisma, she consciously attracts boys’ interest, but unconsciously, she also provokes men’s sexual desires (Oates 120-21). In other words, this false pretence naturally causes men to develop concre... ... middle of paper ... ...stealthily longing for (Winslow 268). Unfortunately, Connie is not able to control or at least influence men's desires and falls back into a little, scared and innocent child when Arnold demands Connie's corporation. This ambivalent behavior finally reveals Connie's inability to be her master of such situations (Oates 130). In a nutshell, Connie regrets her risky business with two personalities and the resultant attentions, which were also provoked due to her contact with the false environment (Oates 120). Arnold's penetrating threat finally causes Connie to feel exhausted and not able to be resistant to his aims. Therefore one could regard Connie as a girl in a woman's body because she is not able to act and react reasonably in crucial moments. In addition, one could regard Joyce Carol Oates' short story as an insistent warning of the unpredictability's of life.
due to her family leaving to attend a barbeque. Like Chet, Connie also has to rely on herself to overcome her obstacles, such as the threatening Arnold Friend. Stegner and Oates both use this plot point in order to establish that their characters cannot rely on their family for help or protection, which emphasizes their transition to adulthood. In Stegner’s depiction, the purpose seems to be the successful overcoming of obstacles that a child, specifically a boy, has to go through in order to become a man.
Connie is a pretty girl to into her own attractiveness that eventually gets her into trouble with a guy named Arnold. In the beginning of the story Oates say that she had a “habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people's faces to make sure her own was all right” (Oates). In the world that we live in, this desperation exploits a sense of immaturity because she believes everything revolves around whether or not someone is beautiful. Additionally, Connie obsession with herself is so great that “she knew she was pretty and that was everything” which makes Connie look immature (Oa...
In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie is a normal teenage girl who is approached outside her home by a guy named Arnold Friend who threatens to harm her, and she obeys, if she does not get in the car with him. Connie is the main character in this story who teaches us that sometimes we might search for adult independence too early before we are actually ready to be independent and on our own. Connie is so focused on her appearance that she works hard to create a mature and attractive adult persona that will get her attention from guys. This search for independence conflicts with Connie’s relationship with her family and their protection of her. Connie’s insecurity and low self-esteem is triggered by her fear of intimacy. Connie confuses having the attention of men with actually having them pursue her in a sexual way.
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
...tomy between reality and dreams quite well throughout her piece. She provides the reader with two ways to experience the story: either as reality or as reality that turns into a nightmare. This dichotomy that Oates creates “allows the reader to escape this story, and allows this story to end” (Hurley 374). The end of the story shows Connie entering the new world of experience, and Oates wants the reader to sense her fear. Oates intricately provides the reader with clues that help see why Connie’s experience with Arnold is just a nightmare. She also allows the reader to see how this nightmare is meant to scare Connie into making the realization that her decisions have consequences. I hope that anyone reading this learns from Connie that not everything we do is good for us, and we have to think about the consequences of our actions, whether good or bad, before we act.
Connie's personality also had two sides to it. The side she displayed at home is mocking and sneering, and the side she displayed in public made her look trashy. It seemed that she didn't know who she was or what she wanted to be. All she let us know is that she wanted "the caress of love," she wanted someone to be "sweet, gentle, the way it was in movies and promised in songs" (Oates 980). This could have been why she did not put up much of a fight at the end and walked straight into Arnold's arms. It seemed almost like this was what she wanted and what she had been dreaming about.
A mysterious car pulled into Connie’s driveway and the driver proceeds to get out of his vehicle, showing that he belonged there, not recognizing the car Connie opens the door to her house and leans out it. “She went into the kitchen and approached the door slowly, then hung out the screen door,” (2). Without even knowing who or why this person has come to her house, Connie opens her door and leans out to possible talk to the driver, who would turn out to be Arnold Friend and wants to take her on a “date”. Connie’s ignorance towards Arnold and his arrival almost immediately puts her in a vulnerable state without her even realizing it, this vulnerability would be the first event to foreshadow Connie’s inevitable kidnapping. After greeting and talking to Arnold for a little, he proceeds to ask Connie if she wants to go for a ride in his car. Instead of turning down the offer since she barely, if at all, knew Arnold, Connie somewhat debates it. “Connie smirked and let her hair fall loose over her shoulder,” (3). Though she lacks any information about Arnold, Connie kind of debates taking up his offer to go for a ride, further letting her ignorance towards the entire situation usher her into an even more vulnerable
Connie, on the other hand, is a young teenage girl who doesn’t have enough love in her family and be attractive to older men, she is the main character in Joyce Carol Oates’ Where are you going, Where have you been.” Although these two characters are different in severial aspects, at the same time possess certain similarities that played important when choosing these two characters for the literary analysis. These two characters are good example of most teenagers who are out there struggling with finding their identity; all the young boys and girls who feel like they have to do certain thing things, engage in certain behaviors or be like certain people to find their position. If you questioned every young person you would find out that they all have one unique problem; the problem of rebellion, search for freedom and how to conform. They have found a solution to this problem by defying all social norms and leading a life where you want to be someone else. The issue of identity and clearly state one’s values and principles is a very difficult thing for most
The story is about Connie, a rebellious fifteen-year-old girl, who lack of maturity and has no relationship with her family, and she always has conflict with her mother. Moreover, she always seeks out company of young man to flirts around with, her behavior had drawn Arnold’s attention. From the beginning of the story, she used her beauty to play everyone and did not think of the consequences that one day she will get herself into trouble that it will be too late for her to
The overuse of biblical allusions throughout the story helps to expose the naive nature of Connie that reveals her as a victim of evil which shows that lust often transgresses on an individual’s identity. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Joyce Carol Oates expressed the subjective ideas by symbolizing Arnold Friend as a devil that tempts a clueless teenage girl Connie, who wanted to experience love.
To begin, the author uses the experiences of Connie to portray to the readers that this could, in fact, be a trashy daydream. This is shown through the quote “But all the boys fell back and dissolved into a single face that was not even a face, but an idea, a feeling, mixed up with the urgent, insistent pounding of the music and the humid night air of July” (Oates
In Joyce Carol Oates’, “ Where are You going Where have you been,” it was a sunday morning when Arnold continues another one of his daily routines. The main girl, Connie, is a self-centered and shy girl, whose mother is always puts her in the background and makes her feel excluded. For instance, her mother says rude comments like “you think your so pretty” and “you don't see your sister using that junk” (1). Then a guy came into her life. “Where are You Going Where Have You been illustrates a man who uses charms and good looks to get young or middle aged women to satisfy himself, but with this one girl he has some trouble along the way.
Connie has the need to be viewed as older and as more mature than she really is, all the while still displaying childlike behavior. She shows this childlike behavior by “craning her neck to glance in mirrors [and] checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right” (Oates 323). This shows that Connie is very insecure and needs other people’s approval. Although on one side she is very childish, on the other side she has a strong desire to be treated like an adult. This longing for adulthood is part of her coming of age, and is demonstrated by her going out to “bright-lit, fly-infested restaurant[s]” and meeting boys, staying out with those boys for three hours at a time, and lying to her parents about where she has been and who she has been with (Oates 325, 326). “Everything about her ha[s] two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home” (Oates 324). Even her physical movements represent her two-sided nature: “her walk that could be childlike and bobbing, or languid enough to make anyone think she was hearin...
Connie’s mother is jealous of Connie and her appearance. She tries to rob Connie of her blessing by depressing her. She castigates Connie by saying, “Stop gawking at yourself. Who are you? You think you're so pretty? (1)” In addition to her jealousy, Connie’s mother once was alluring, the old photo albums doesn’t lie. Her looks faded away with time and that’s why she makes it a mission to criticize Connie. Due to animosity between Connie and her mother, June is always praised for. June is characterized as “so plain and chunky and steady (1)” and a goody goody. It was always said, “June did this, June did that, she saved money and helped clean the house and cooked that Connie had to hear her praised all the time by her mother... (1)” Connie’s mother wants Connie to be like her sister. Always chastising, “Why don't you keep your room clean like your sister? [...]—what the hell stinks? Hair spray? You don't see your sister using that junk.” Connie could only block out so much before her emotions started to unravel. She wished for the worst wish imaginable. “Connie's mother kept picking at her until Connie wished her mother was dead and she herself was dead and it “[would be]” all over.
In Joyce Carol Oates's short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" the protagonist introduced is Connie, who is an interesting and strong character. Just like every other teenager, she is searching for a purpose and trying to find her place in society. Although Connie seems to be an incredibly self absorbed teenage girl, there is a part of her personality that is different than the rest. She lives a double life, having one personality around her house, with her family, and the other when she is hanging out with friends in public. Due to this double personality, the reader can't help but become intrigued and question which girl she truly is.