Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

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Coming of Age
Coming-of-age stories commonly record the transitions—sometimes abrupt, or even violent—from youth to maturity, from innocence to experience of its protagonist, whether male or female. Greasy Lake by T.Coraghessan Boyle and Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates are great examples of traditional coming-of-age stories. The roots of the coming-of-age narrative theme are tracked in the male protagonist’s perspective for Boyle’s short story, while the Oates’ story captures the coming-of-age theme from Connie; a female protagonist’s perspective. In both short stories, the authors fulfill the expectations of a coming-of-age genre when they take us through the journey of rebellion and self realization, as the …show more content…

In the short story, Connie is a young, naïve, sassy, little girl who hates her mom and sister. According to Oates, “Connie wished her mother was dead” (324). Connie enjoys going out with her friends and going to a drive-in restaurant where the older kids hang out. Connie is innocent, but thinks about love and sex. She is desperate to appeal to boys and succeeds at it when a boy with shaggy black hair says to her, “Gonna get you, baby” (325). Her encounter with this boy will change her life forever, because he is the antagonist that influences Connie’s loss of innocence. On a Sunday afternoon, the boy, Arnold Friend, visits Connie and asks her to come for a ride, which she declines. But, Arnold Friend won’t take “no” for an answer and threatens to go in the house. For example when Connie says she will call the cops, Arnold says “Soon as you touch the phone I don’t need to keep my promise and come inside” …show more content…

Coraghessen Boyle and Where are you going, where have you been by Joyce Carol Oates both fulfill the expectations of the coming-of-age-genre when the authors take us through events that the protagonists experience—transforming them from youth to maturity. Greasy Lake by T. Coraghessen Boyle ends most positively because the male protagonist realizes he didn’t murder Bobbie, and he learns a life lesson; there are dangerous consequences for bad actions. Where are you going, where have you been by Joyce Carol Oates ends negatively because the female protagonist, Connie, is kidnapped by the antagonist, Arnold Friend. Connie’s fate was not “sealed” because she was female, but because as an individual she is a vulnerable, young and naïve. Her “fate” could have happened to anyone wather male or female, who is vulnerable and

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