In her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates gives the internal events of her short story the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. This is accomplished by providing the thoughts of Connie to the reader; showing the effects of the setting on Connie; and Connie’s final realization of her fate. She connects this to the idea that Arnold Friend is the demonic adversary who convinces Connie to cross the threshold into adulthood and lose her innocence by shear persuasion and threatening undertones. Throughout the story Joyce Carol Oates give the reader insight into the thoughts of the main character, Connie. From her daydreams of the perfect boy “…sweet, gentle, the way it was in movies and promised in songs…”, (Oates 492)to her racing heart and mind at the realization of who Arnold friend really is “at this knowledge her heart began to pound faster.”(Oates 496). These internal events feel external in that the reader feels as though they are watching Connie’s thought process; as if she were transparent and the reader is just a curious passerby. Over the …show more content…
From the way Arnold dressed to the way he talked, everything he did was part of his strategy to persuade Connie. “Connie liked the way he was dressed, which was the way all of them dressed…”(Oates 494) this made Connie feel more comfortable wich kept her in the doorway talking to Arnold. As time progressed and Connie continued to deny Arnold he became threatening, telling Connie things like “Soon as you touch the phone I don’t need to keep my promise and can come inside. You won’t want that.” (Oates 499) this continued until Connie agreed to cross the threshold into adulthood and lose her
In the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie (protagonist) is a fifteen-year-old teenager who physically attempts to behave like an adult by tampering with her appearance and participating in activities habitual to adults (going to restaurants and theaters with boys). As an adolescent, she’s morally ambiguous and thus safely explores adulthood. Arnold Friend, an ingenuine and strange character, pulls Connie away from her infantile fantasies to the grave reality of being an adult woman. The author uses the motif of a bilateral persona evident in Connie’s and Arnold Friend’s characters to illustrate the theme that entails the abrupt transition that Connie’s rebellious and childish spirit is forced
In addition, Oates expresses Arnold Friends control over Connie’s body through this quote, “She thought for the first time in her life that it was nothing that was hers, that belonged to her, but just a pounding, living this inside this body that wasn’t really hers either. You don’t want them to get hurt. Arnold Friend went on. Now get up, honey. Get up all by yourself.
For example, Connie listened to the music that made everything even good, “ the music was always in the background like music at a church service, it was something to depend upon”. And, it is music that lures Connie, just as many teens of Dylan 's era were lured by his lyrics and music, although Ms. Oates does not perceive Dylan 's as subversive or dangerous. Interestingly, however, to deceive Connie, Arnold Friend mimics Dylan in the
However, this is countered when Connie notes that “he was much older—thirty, maybe more” (315), a fact that frightens her. What Arnold is to Connie is a challenge of her want to be an adult, and a trail of her ability to deal with adult issue. Such as a man who singles her out sexual reason. Her wish to be an adult is something she seeks while passively avoiding it. Her avoidance is marked by day dreams of puppy love romance, like a typical teenager; yet, her attractive flaunt to be mature is presented as if she seeks to be an
In the story, Joyce Carol Oates introduces the main character, Connie, by giving the reader contextual information on her life. Connie was the typical rebel teenager. She lied to her parents, snuck off with the boys, went out late at night, was mischievous, and had a dysfunctional relationship with her family. The story motivated the production of the film, “Smooth Talk”. Both of these pieces had the same crucial ideas, varied in the family relations, information concerning Arnold Friend and his obsession of Connie, and resolutions to the ambiguous ending.
Story of a young girl, Connie , who allegedly stalked by a creepy guy Arnold Friend. With further investigation and through studying of psychological disorder this short story has a different view than expected. Oates does blur the view between fantasy and reality through her description of Arnold yet it appears that that the fight that Connie is internal. As the way the story is told it feels if Connie is delusional and the encounter she has with the young man is all made up in her head.
The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” was written by the author Joyce Carol Oates in 1966. Oates describes her idea for the story after briefly reading an article about the real-life murderer, Charles Schmid, who lured and murdered three teenage girls (Kirszner & Mandell 523). She uses this idea to create the character, Arnold Friend, and his victim, Connie. Connie is a typical teenage girl portrayed as naïve and self-centered. The short story appears realistic, given that the conflict in the story is based off of real events.
Connie uses her attitude and appearance to attract boys. But she is not aware of the reality of the society in which she lives. Connie is living in a fantasy world, but when she gets trapped by Arnold Friend she is put into a scary reality. There
Arnold Friend’s Biblical Allusions In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Joyce Carol Oates tells a story of a young, innocent teenage girl, Connie who enjoys listening to music and begins exploring her sexuality and being with boys “the way it was in the movies and promised in songs” (Oates 198). In fact she catches the attention of Arnold Friend one night while at the mall meeting up with a boy. Not knowing he would appear in her life, Arnold strangely shows up at her house assuming they made plans to get together. His character is seen as the devil.
In Joyce Carol Oates fictional short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” the majority of the story lies beneath the surface. More specifically than just the story, you realize that there is more to the character Arnold Friend than what may appear. The author has always remained silent and ambiguous about the real meaning of Arnold Friend’s true nature and she leaves room for the readers to make their own interpretation of him. Readers can analyze Arnold Friend and see him as the devil, he could just be the personification of popular music imagined by Connie in a dream, but Arnold Friend could also be the result of drug use.
Connie is ready to take things beyond just the romantic level with boys, and this desire is transformed into the being that is Arnold Friend. Connie states in her description of Arnold that “she liked the way he was dressed… a belt that pulled in his waist and showed how lean he was, and a white pull-over shirt that was a little soiled and showed the hard small muscles of his arms and shoulders” (Oates n.p.). By Connie stating this, she reveals that she does find Arnold physically attractive, perhaps even on a sexual level. Arnold represents her interest in boys and he allows her to enter into the world of fantasy. When he breaks into the house, however, Connie’s own fantasies begin to betray her because this is what she pictures it to be like if she were forced into a sexual situation.
In her short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", Joyce Carol Oates utilizes a variety of literary devices to strengthen the story in its entirety. This short story is essentially about a 16-year-old girl named Connie and the conflict between her desire to be mature and her desire to remain an adolescent. Throughout the story, the audience sees this conflict through her words in addition to through her behavior. The audience is also introduced to Arnold Friend, a rather peculiar man, who essentially kidnaps her. This short story by Joyce Carol Oates functions and is additionally meaningful because of her usage of literary devices.
Oates’s biography explained her fiction writing as a mixture violence and sexual obsession. The writing style definitely fits the plot point of this story with both of her literary ingredients being present in not only Arnold Friend but in Connie as well. The Protagonist Connie is presented in a very self-centered way. She is obsessed with her looks and often fantasizes about all the boys she meets.
She put her hand to the screen and she watched herself push the door and there she was walking her way towards Arnold Friend. Oates then says, “the vast sunlit reaches of the land behind him and on all the sides of him− so much land that Connie had never seen before and did not recognize except to know that she was going to it” (Oates 1420). The life she dreamt about is over, she lost her chances of proving she’s mature as he takes her to an unfamiliar area without anyone knowing. Her life changes as she deals with consequences of seeking for adulthood as a