Throughout this short story, Oates uses literary elements to illustrate Connie which is the main character of the story. Oates illustrates Connie as a teenager, who is trying to find herself as a grown mature woman. She continuously worries about her appearance or the way she acts around others. She also shared two different personalities, “everything bout her had two sided to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home” (Oates 1). It is definitely obvious how hard Connie tries to create an adult persona. Rather then when she`s home, she shows her different aspect of life. She has a difficult relation with her mother, “she makes me want to throw up sometimes” (Oates 1). Therefore, she rejected the role of having to get along
There are several relationships that reveal about Chris's personality. “He always wore shoes without socks- just plain couldn’t stand to wear socks. But McDonald’s has a rule that employees have to wear appropriate footwear at all times. That means shoes and socks Chris would comply with the rule, but as soon as his shift was over, bang!-the first he’d do is peel those socks off. ”(40)
(Oates). Also, her dad does not pay her any attention to her either. Her father goes to work and eats. If Connie’s family was more active in her life, then she would have never followed the wrong path and
In the beginning, Oates creates a false sense of security. She is at home and Connie seems safe, this is what makes what happens next unexpected. After this, a strange man rolls up to Connie's home, and Connie is only worried about how she looks, not her safety. This makes you wonder what is going to happen, and if their is a reason she is scared. Then, the pace of the story completely changes when Arnold Friend starts to approach Connie and say things that make her feel uneasy.
Connie is in a constant battle with her mother about the way she looks and how she behaves, often comparing Connie to her older sister. Her mother, once like Connie, realizes she is no longer the beauty she once was and takes it out on her daughter. Connie has a “highly charged relationship with her mother” which shows the reader “both her mother's attempt to control and protect her youngest daughter, and her feelings that Connie is developing into a younger version of herself” (Caldwell). Due to this continuous judgment towards Connie from her mother, Connie
As many teens have been asked these same questions multiple times by their parents as well as Connie has, one could assume. She is fifteen with long blonde hair which seemed to draw everyone’s attention. Oates begins the story explaining how Connie was gawking at herself in the mirror, as just about any other ordinary fifteen-year-old girl would; and that’s just what Connie is portrayed to be, ordinary. She shows a mighty interest in boys, she knows that she is very beautiful. She’s superficial, very naïve, and self-centered.
Oates explains that “...her head [is] always filled with trashy daydreams”, which is Connie’s way of escaping to a different world (Oates 1). Connies daydreams help her leave the constant yelling of her mother and neglect from her family and escape to her perfect reality. With Arnold’s offer to leave her family behind, Connie is reluctant to say no because she wants this opportunity to escape her negligent family. Oates says “Connie [has] to hear [June being] praised all the time…” which makes her upset even though she is used to it (Oates 1). These situations make Connie a victim here because this offer is difficult for her to make considering her family life is not the best.
Connie's choice of life style and attitude shows her lack of morals. Connie constantly has conflicts with her family. She is beginning to break away from them. Because the mother is jealous, she likes to put Connie's self esteem down: " Stop gawking at yourself. Who are you?
In a story how is it decided who the good and bad guys are? It all depends on your point of view. In George Orwell’s 1984, there is a totalitarian government ruling over its citizens with an iron grip. O’Brien’s duty is to catch anyone that is against the government he works for, this unfortunately means he is forced to backstab people, making many people see him as the antagonist. O’Brien is an older guy, who acts as a dynamic anti-hero: he strongly believes in the policies and government he supports, but he uses some unorthodox methods to keep people in line and loyal.
Again, the reader sees traditional values placed against changing times, reinforcing Connie’s internal struggle to define
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
She intensely daydreams about boys throughout the story as she gets with various guys, and towards the end of the story she has sexual desires that she wishes to explore. As Connie says to herself right before Arnold shows up to the house, “all the boys fell back and dissolved into a single face that was not even a face but an idea, a feeling, mixed up with the urgent insistent pounding of the music and the humid night air of July” (Oates n.p.). Because Connie fantasizes about boys, she feels At home, even in a non-sexual way, she is surrounded by women as her father is tired after work. When Connie is out with boys, though, she is able to socialize and be appreciated by the boys for her beauty. This makes Connie feel excited because it is attention that she does not receive at home.
In this story, Oates describes Connie character as a pretty young girl with “long dark blond hair that drew anyone’s eye to it.” (86) Because Connie led two different lives, she would dress and look different at home, then she would with
The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates can be interpreted in a multitude of ways due to its ambiguity. A psychological lens, however, provides the most accurate viewpoint for analyzing the story as it clarifies certain obscure scenes and actions of Connie. One psychological issue of Connie that is easily inferred from the beginning of the story is her insecurity about her looks. Connie constantly worries about the way that she looks and takes any opportunity to do so, “craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people's faces to make sure her own was all right” (1).
Connie’s first encounter with Friend was at a diner when he stated to Connie, “Gonna get you, baby”(pg.1142). Because Connie was use to this type of attention, she did not view it as strange that an older man was calling her in such away. However, if Connie had seen Friend as dangerous instead of just another man, her kidnapping might have been prevented. Later in the story when Friend showed up as Connie’s house, she walked outside and talked to him instead of questioning how he knew where she lived or calling the police. Oates described Connie's interaction with Friend by stating,“Connie liked the way he was dressed, which was the way all of them dressed: tight faded jeans stuffed into black, scuffed boots, a belt that pulled his waist in and showed how lean he was, and a white pullover shirt that was a little soiled and showed the hard muscles of his arms and shoulders”(pg.1145).
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.