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Theme of life and death in literature
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Theme of life and death in literature
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“Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”… Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” ” (Genesis 2:18, 2:23) Within the story Where Are You Going, Where Have you Been, we are introduced to a girl named Connie. She was fifteen, a slight narcissist, and had a nervous giggle. So, how does this relate to the bible in any way, shape, or form? Fear not, it is not easily seen in the beginning, but more towards the end where you will start to notice. Jumping right into it, the two characters we will look at for right now are Connie and Arnold Friend. Now Arnold Friend shows up out of nowhere and is trying to seduce Connie out of her house to go for a ride with him. It started to ring some bell and low and behold it soon started to look like when the snake charmed Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. In the end, Eve submits to the snakes charm and eats the fruit to gain the knowledge. Now let’s take a look at the story and see the similarities. Connie could be said to be a representation of Eve. Young and naïve, she continues to deny Arnold until she finally submits and takes that bite. …show more content…
It’s based around Greek mythology and it always has been an interest of mine. Anyways, it was when the main character had just been killed by the mysterious killer and ends up on a boat in the Underworld where Henry is waiting for her to take her back to her body. Now this made me start to think of the Percy Jackson books. I remember in them that Percy had to go to the underworld to get his mother’s soul and the lightning bolt back from Hades. To do this he had to pay the ferryman to take him there. Finally the pieces started to line up and Charon was now in my sights. Finally, connecting the two together, I placed Ellie as Charon the ferryman of the
Towner explains this our vocation and Arnold explains this calling as being the solution to earth’s problem. (58; 73, Arnold) Both presented this task to be for men and women. The innocence of the first couple is the story of us all. The craftiness and cleverness that Arnold describes of the serpent is a view that I never allowed my mind to go towards. The wisdom of the serpent and the wisdom that he dangles towards Eve is not defective but obedience towards God is far superior.
Symbolism is very prominent over the course of this story, giving it that much more meaning. Knowles makes not only one, but several instances to religious principles and more precisely in this case, Adam and Eve. These of jealousy, greed, and selfishness are prominent throughout both stories as well is a significant fall whether it would be as monstrous as humanity or on the smaller scale of relationships. The disruption of peace and harmony are also evident in the two. In addition, it is interesting how the author finds a way to tie them all into each other.
Each of us experiences transitions in our lives. Some of these changes are small, like moving from one school semester to the next. Other times these changes are major, like the transition between youth and adulthood. In Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", the author dramatizes a real life crime story to examine the decisive moment people face when at the crossroads between the illusions and innocence of youth and the uncertain future.
The short story, “ Where are you going, Where have you been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, an award-winning author, is known for unmasking the evil within everything and presenting it to the world through a fictional story. In what is thought to be her most terrifying yet highly acclaimed short story, Oates references many fairy tales that help carve the short story into a realistic allegory. She models the short story after the real-life murder of a teenage girl by the American serial killer Charles Schmid also known as the “Pied Piper of Tuscon .” Knowing this information allows a greater sense of reality opposed to fiction because the events throughout the story are fairly similar to the tragic horror that took place on May 31, 1964. The story deals with the temptations and the coming of age of a teenage girl while challenging the perception of America during the 60’s. Oates references several fairy tales throughout the story to help guide the reader and give a sense of an allusion. There were three fairy tales that stood out the most in the story: Cinderella, the Beauty and the Beast, and Little Red Riding Hood.
In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, many elements of fiction are used to convey subject of themes represented throughout the story, such as disguises. Throughout the story the use of characterization, detail, and allusions represents the presence evil in the modern world. Oates used these elements to capture evil that illustrates the theme that ‘Looks can be deceiving’.
The stories about women in the bible illustrate the importance of their role and contribution to society. Women were slaves, concubines, and child bearers; they were also wives, matriarchs, and prophets. Although, some women had less important titles than others each served a purpose. Even if the Bible does not explain God’s relationship with women as with Moses and other prophets, it illustrates the love and dedication women had for Him. The scriptures describe brave, nurturing, and God fearing women whose decisions impacted the existence of the Israelites.
Oates shows archetypes throughout the story. The symbolic archetype shown is “the friendly beast” or “the tempt”. The friendly beast, of course, would be Arnold Friend; Arnold never hurts or does anything to Connie, he just tempts her by saying, “we’ll drive away, have a nice ride.” The temptation for Connie is that she wants to grow up, get away from her family and live her own life. Although, Connie is very ignorant; Connie believes her looks will get her very far in life, but what she doesn’t realize is that ignorance does not equal bliss. In The Sitting Bee Dermot McManus talks about how Connie struggles with independence and how she wants to do things on her own. McManus says “that Connie still relies on others to take her home and other things, and how
Joyce Carol Oates begins the story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by addressing Connie’s “habit of craning her neck to glace into mirrors or checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right” (316). This is interesting because when Connie’s personified death, Arnold Friend, arrives honking at her driveway, her very first instinct is to check and see how her looks. This later plays a role when Friend asks if she would like to go for a drive in his topless car where her hair will be blown around. To Connie, “gawking” (316) herself, was a form of making herself feel high and beautiful but she had two sides of doing everything, “one way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home,” (317). Linda Wagner
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? is about a teenage girl named Connie, that tell us about her life who has no guidance in life, because her family has not provided any moral support to help through her teenage life. She only knows about popular culture and not the consequences that comes with it. Without proper direction to face her problems. There are different types of conflict in this story.
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.
In the story “Where are you going, Where have you been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, the main character, Connie, experiences life not having an actively participating mother or father. Most adolescents struggle with the transition from teen-age years to adulthood. For many, this is where the parents step in. Parents are meant to support and help an adolescent when needed, especially during this difficult transition; however, this is not always true. In Connie’s case, her parents allowed her to make the change alone and endure hard times. As a result, she lacked the values needed to survive. Such values are used to equip a young person for the real world and the tragedies that come with it. As seen in “Where are you going, Where have you been?”, Connie was a victim of poor guidance and empty judgment. The dysfunctional family’s behavior was reflected in Connie. Her mother envied her, and her father was not an active figure in her life. Connie 's
The clash between good and evil has been a prominent theme in literature. The Bible presents the conflict between good and evil in the story of Adam and Eve. Many authors use the scene in the Bible in which the snake taunts and tempts Adam and Eve to take a bite of the apple of knowledge to demonstrate the frailty of humankind. John Gardner provides these same biblical allusions of good and evil in his novel, Grendel.
Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam[f] no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[g] and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib[h] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. (Genesis 2:
Oates uses a metaphor to the Garden of Eden to emphasize Arnold Friend’s deceptive and malevolent ways and how his deception made Connie imagine things. Throughout the story, Connie proves to be so naïve to the dangers in her world, that all she sees is the fact that a guy is paying attention to her. You see this in the beginning of the story (Oates 505-508) when Connie and her friends go to the drive-in restaurant, and a boy named Eddie invites her to go get something to eat. She becomes so engulfed in the moment that a guy noticed her that she doesn’t realize that a guy with shaggy hair is staring at her. When Connie finally comes back down to Earth she realizes him looking at her and he sneers and tells her “Gonna get you, baby.” Connie turns away and continues as she was. Later on in the story when we find out that this shaggy haired guy is Arnold Friend, you start to see him show characteristics like that of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. On a Sunday when Connie was by h...
In Book IX of Milton’s Paradise Lost, Eve makes a very important and revealing speech to the tree of knowledge. In it, she demonstrates the effect that the forbidden fruit has had on her. Eve’s language becomes as shameful as the nakedness that Adam and Eve would later try to cover up with fig leaves. After eating the forbidden apple, Eve’s speech is riddled with blasphemy, self-exaltation, and egocentrism.