Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Summary

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In the Short story “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been” written by Joyce Carol Oates we are introduced with the protagonist of the story Connie a fiffteen year old girl. Connies character is a teenage girl who views herself as an adult who pays little attention to authority given by her parents. Connie continuously disobeys her parents and thanks to her “goodie-goodie” older sister is allowed to go out late at night. The story begins with Connie 's mother scolding at her for admiring herself in the mirror. Here we are given the sense that she is very self centered and cares alot about her appearance. The setting moves forward to what we first understand is a night out with her sister at a shopping plaza. We shortly understand later that It 's a big symbol to me because it ties into what my opinion of the theme is in her story . The theme in my perspective is maturity and immaturity. The title reflects the meaning because it shows and hints where she is heading to and where she has been. the title hints the ending in my view because the future is “where she is going:” with arnold which connects with her being immature in the past that lead her to that moment. After doing some research i came across some journals who reflect the title and its meaning. According to Michele D. Theriot what 's interesting is the “ initiation framework that organizes the plot relies on a move from a past “self” to a future “self,” Connie herself has no sense of the past or future.” As i mentioned i think a big theme in the story is maturity and immaturity. We see connie be both immature and mature in the story in multiple ways and the title symbolizes that transformation of her past and future self. it reflects the transformation of her maturity after her encounter with arnold, into where is she is going (future) and where has she been (past).

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