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Where have you been? where are you going
Literal analysis on where are you going, where have you been
Literal analysis on where are you going, where have you been
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Joyce Carol Oates is a renowned American author. She has many great works, and among them are her short stories “Life After High School” and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”. These two stories have some similarities, like the fact that they both essentially have the same theme: society’s incessant need for conformity leads to dire consequences for the youth of America. Despite the similarities, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is the superior story due to its flawless incorporation of literary techniques, its thematic ambition, and the fact that is it almost completely literary. “Life After High School” has many shortfalls that lead it to be the less superior story. The characters in the story are stock characters. The …show more content…
To start off, Oates incorporates allegories into her story. The entire story is essentially allegorical as its theme consists of a moral message. The theme of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” is similar to “Life After High School” in that society’s incessant need for conformity leads to dire consequences for the youth of America. Had Connie not conformed to the counterculture, she may not have consequently been kidnapped and raped. Arnold Friend is also somewhat of an allegory as well, in that he sends the message that there are consequences of what can happen when one attempts to conform to the standards of society in America as a youth. If Connie didn’t try to conform to the counterculture she may not have become one of Arnold’s victims. Had she made better life choices and had better friends who influenced her in a more positive way, she may not have been subject to such consequences that she faced. Not to say that it is her fault completely- Arnold shouldn’t be a creep- but that due to her choices, she made it that much more possible for her to become a victim of such actions. Oates also includes suspense and foreshadowing in her story as well. Connie encounters Arnold long before he shows up at her house; when she is leaving with one of her many escorts, Arnold yells from his car to her that he is “Gonna get [her], baby.” (Oates) This foreshadowing creates a level of suspense in that the reader is now curious as to what is going to happen later in the story with this stranger. The ending also provides suspense, as Connie and the reader have no idea where Arnold is taking her. Oates doesn’t explicitly state what happens to Connie once she is in the hands of Arnold, but through prior
"Connie, don't fool around with me. I mean—I mean, don't fool around," he said, shaking his head. He laughed incredulously. He placed his sunglasses on top of his head, carefully, as if he were indeed wearing a wig…” (Oates 6). Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” highlights an altercation, meeting, conflict and dispute between a teenage girl, named Connie, and a psychotic rapist named Arnold Friend. Throughout their altercation, Arnold Friend tempts and encourages Connie to get in the car with him and lead her to a variety of possible dangerous situations, one of which includes her getting raped . There is no doubt that Joyce Carol Oates’ uses Arnold Friend in her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” to symbolize the Devil and embody all of the evil and sinister forces that are present in our world. This becomes apparent when the reader focuses on how deranged Arnold Friend is and begins to
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.
In the story “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” Arnold Friend is depicted as the antagonist of the book, trying to seduce Connie into going with him on a ride. He could be shown as an evil person intent on doing harm to Connie, but by the way Oates wrote the book you can almost feel the frustration building up in him as Connie keeps denying him the satisfaction of Connie saying yes. This can essence can be felt when Arnold Friend “wobbled again and out of the side of his mouth came a fast spat curse, an aside not meant for [Connie] to hear. But even this ‘Christ!’ sounded forced. Then he began to smile again,” As if Arnold friend is trying to hide something from Connie, “She watched this smile...
As teenagers, we feel like we know all the complexities of life, and that the changes we experience during puberty are the ultimate variabilities of our lives, but the irony of this is that they still have so much more to learn. The story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” was written by Joyce Carol Oates, an influential, feminist author in the 1960s. The story was inspired by the real-life serial killer, Charles Schmid, also known as the “Pied Piper of Tucson”, who like the antagonist in the story, Arnold Friend, preyed on young girls as his victims (Sharma 5). An important element that influenced the story is that it was written in the 1960's, a period known as the Second-Wave of feminism, this was a time when women across America began to break free from the patriarchal system and assert their rights as citizens outside of the home (The 1960s-70s American Feminist Movement: Breaking Down Barriers
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
Joyce Carol Oates intrigues readers in her fictional piece “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by examining the life of a fifteen year old girl. She is beautiful, and her name is Connie. Oates lets the reader know that “everything about her [Connie] had two sides to it, one for home, and one for anywhere but home (27). When Connie goes out, she acts and dresses more mature than she probably should. However, when she is at home, she spends the majority of her time absorbed with daydreams “about the boys she met”(28). This daydreaming behavior is observable to the reader throughout the story. From theories about dreams, theories about subconscious thought, and the clues that Oates provides, the reader is lead to believe that Connie’s experience with Arnold Friend is a nightmare used to awaken her to the consequences that her behavior could result in.
During the teenage years they no longer want to be labeled the “child; matter of fact, they have a strong desire to rebel against the family norms and move quickly into adulthood. This transition and want for freedom can be a very powerful and frightening thing as there are evils in this world that cannot be explained. Most parents try to understand and give their teens certain freedoms, but at what expense? Joyce Oates gives us a chilly story about a teenager that wanted and craved this freedom of adulthood called “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”. This is a haunting story of a young girl by the name of Connie who gives us a glimpse of teenager transitioning from childhood with the need for freedom and the consequences of her actions. Connie is described as a very attractive girl who did not like her role in the family unit. She was the daughter who could not compare to her older sister and she felt her Mom showed favoritism towards her sister. Connie is your average teen who loves music, going out with friends, and she likes the attention she receives from boys. During this time, Connie is also growing into her sexuality and is obsessing with her looks as she wants and likes to be noticed by the opposite sex. Her sexual persona and need to be free will be what is fatal to her character’s life and well-being.
Oates takes us to a journey of rebellion as the protagonist sorts through self-created illusion in order to come to terms with her own sexual inexperience. Connie’s desires for attention from the opposite sex, her vanity and immaturity blind her to think of the real intentions of guys, in this case Arnold Friend. A character that many critics argue is real, yet, others argue it was created by Connie’s mind.
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.
The external conflict in Oate’s story, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, is when Connie meets this mysterious stranger named Arnold Friend. Connie first comes across Arnold when she is hanging out with a boy named Eddie. The second time she glances at him he says, “Gonna get you, baby” (p. 7). She ignores him and continues enjoying her date with Eddie. Soon enough, when Connie’s family left for a barbeque and she stayed home alone, she heard a car pull up on the drive way. Arnold then initiates conversation with Connie and asks her if she wants to go for a ride with him. She rejects his offer because she has no idea who this “Arnold Friend” is, yet he keeps insisting, “Don’tcha wanna see what’s on the car? Don’tcha wanna go for a ride?”
Oates, Joyce C. "Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?" Compact Literature. By Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2013. 505-16. Print.
In her famous short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Joyce Carol Oates shows the transition from childhood to adulthood through her character Connie. Each person experiences this transition in their own way and time. For some it is leaving home for the first time to go to college, for others it might be having to step up to a leadership position. No matter what, this transition affects everyone; it just happens to everyone differently. Oates describes Connie's unfortunate coming of age in a much more violent and unexpected way than the typical coming of age story for a fifteen year old girl.
Authors of great stories often use good technical writing skills. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast two short stories: Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates, and Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway. Comparison and contrast will be done based on their use of plot, point of view and character development. The short story Where are you going, Where have you been is about a teenage girl who is, vain, self-doubting and affixed to the present. She does not know anything about the past or doubts it, and has no plans for the future.
the lack of knowing her true self lets Arnold Friend overpower her in the end. The words and letters on Arnold’s car symbolize warnings that Connie should have picked up on. Because Arnold symbolizes the devil, the evil inside of him gives him advantages to manipulate Connie into leaving her house, despite everything inside of Connie screaming at her not to go. The symbolisms in these objects or people are all deeply rooted to the theme of this short story, “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?”.
Reader Response Essay - Joyce Carol Oates's Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?