“Stop gawking at yourself. Who are you? You think youŕe so pretty?” The story Where are you going? Where have you been? Starts off with the very pretty miss Connie, loud personality, and was a normal fifteen year-old girl. Connie was the pretty sister, outgoing and beautiful, so it is not surprising when she had caught someone’s eye, but the tragedy of what happened to Connie could have been avoided. Connie is just your average teenage girl, the one who wants to go out with friends rather than clean their room or spend quality time with the family. So it is not out of the norm that she finds herself at a drive-in where the older kids hang out. Spotting the strange man that says “I’m gonna get you baby.” seemed odd at the time but did not
The house which Connie lives in symbolizes a world of family gatherings and sweet traditions she will forever cherish. Her home cannot provide her with the protection from the appalling threats of Arnold Friend whom cannot intrude her home, but can only seduce Connie to come out of
The story presents a rebellious teenager named Connie who is also preoccupied with her appearance. She was approached by Arnold Friend in her house but before this,
He tells Connie that “the place where you came from ain’t there anymore, and where you had in mind to go is cancelled out” (Oates, 9). This title emphasizes not only the fear but also desire that Connie has during her teenage time. Also, similar sentences like” where’re we going?”(4) repeat several time in the story to keep us focus on and think about the actual meaning of the question and what it is important to
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, written by Joyce Carol Oates, is a short story that takes place in a 1960’s American suburb where tight jeans and slicked back hair is the popular style. The story takes place around a young fifteen year old girl, Connie, who has family issues and enjoys going out with her friends whether it be to the mall, movies, or drive-in restaurant. At the restaurant, Connie is noticed by a man with an odd car who later finds her alone at her house and seductively forces her to come with him and leave her family. This short story demonstrates an allegory. While on the surface it seems to be just a story of a vain girl who is “voluntarily abducted”, it actually represents the temptation of death (Oats 1).
He was a murderer but the girls loved him. " Pied Piper of Tucson" inspired Oates to write the short story "where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", and shows this by creating the character Arnold Friend. She uses certain word choice, narrative structure and characterization to create tension, mystery and surprise in the story. Joyce Carol Oates uses certain word choice in "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" to create tension. In the story, there is a lot of dialogue, and what the characters say to each other creates a lot of tension.
Varsha R. Yerram Professor Baker Studies in Fiction October 12, 2014 A Tainted Fantasy Overtaken by Morbid Reality In Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” there is a serious conflict between what is reality and fantasy. It is far too easy for individuals to create false fantasies and illusions regarding what they believe something to be.
Connie does not have any relationship with her father, which allowed her to be vulnerable to older men. Oates describes the father’s character as, “…away at work most of the time and when he came home he wanted supper and he read the newspaper at supper he went to bed. He didn’t bother talking much to them…” (26). Her parent’s lack of effective communication allowed Connie to seek validation in all the wrong places.
Connie who’s usual self-absorbed and seemingly in control of situations when it comes to boys her own age finds herself struggling for control when Arnold arrives at her door. “Connie stared at him, another wave of dizziness and fear rising in her so that for a moment he wasn't even in focus but was just a blur standing there against his gold car, and she had the idea that he had driven up the driveway all right but had come from nowhere before that and belonged nowhere and that everything about him and even about the music that was so familiar to her was only half real” (Oates 6). Connie begins to realize she’s not ready for the responsibilities of adulthood after all. In fact when she starts to realize the sexual advances from Arnold, she begins to panic. ” she was so sick with fear that she could do nothing but listen to it—the telephone was clammy and very heavy and her fingers groped down to the dial but were too weak to touch it.
People desires can vary from person to person. Some want power, other want to find the love of their lives. However getting what want is difficult some never fully receive their deepest longings to meet themselves fell complete. Some desires have consequences, they can be small, however, others have terrible ramifications. In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” written by Joyce Carol Oates is about the main character Connie and her life.
If you are old enough to remember, you can think back to the memories of when you are a kid and understand the memories as a child are the best memories that you have in your life; yet eventually you mature into ann adult. Like the book, Catcher in the Rye, the short story Where Are You Going Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oats is about Connie, an adolescent girl, wanting to stay in her child-like life and not mature into a adult. Fortunately, Connie has some help coming into the adult world with the manifestation of a person named Arnold Friend and Ellie.
That also made her become more vulnerable to the real dangers and the evilness that exists in the world. That danger was represented by an old man who pretends to be an eighteen year old boy that seduced and kidnaped Connie. The end of the story Joyce Carol Oates leaves it open to the readers, because that way it makes the reader think of what might have happened, whether she got raped or whether she is killed, after the main character leaves with the antagonist of the story. Oates shows that ignorance, narcissism and the lack of
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
Connie’s vanity causes her make terrible choices about Arnold Friend. The Trouble of being notice is blaming yourself if what you deserve is horrible things like getting unwanted attention someday you get what coming to you. In Joyce Carol Oates’s story “Where You Going, Where have you Been,” one of the protagonist Connie is a fifteen year old girl who wants to look and act like an arrogant child. She isn’t herself.
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
“But now her looks were gone and that was why she was always after Connie.” (Oates ). Also, there is another opportunity for friendship within the family, between Connie and her sister, however, that is lost in their rivalry and hostility. “Her sister was so plain and chunky and steady that Connie had to hear her praised all the time – by her mother and her mother's sisters.” ( ).