The story "Where are You Going, Where Have You Been" written by Carol Oats is about a girl who flaunts her beauty which ultimately leads to her abduction. After the story is read the question is, was the author trying to show Connie's situation as fate or free will? The situation Connie got herself in was caused by free will. Connie's character played a big role in what ultimately happened to her. Connie's actions could give people bad ideas about her, and Connie does leave her house without physical force. Connie's character plays a big role in what ultimately happens to her. Connie is a vain girl that thinks the way you look is everything. She plays the stereotypical part for girls in today's society. She thinks that as long as you are pretty and dress a certain way then you are everything. This comes across when Oates writes "Connie thought that her mother preferred her to June because she was prettier" (980). By flaunting her looks she could easily give a guy like Arnold Friend perverted ideas about her. It could make them see her as easy, which he did. Connie's personality also had two sides to it. The side she displayed at home is mocking and sneering, and the side she displayed in public made her look trashy. It seemed that she didn't know who she was or what she wanted to be. All she let us know is that she wanted "the caress of love," she wanted someone to be "sweet, gentle, the way it was in movies and promised in songs" (Oates 980). This could have been why she did not put up much of a fight at the end and walked straight into Arnold's arms. It seemed almost like this was what she wanted and what she had been dreaming about. Connie's actions also played a big role in her abduction. Connie liked to go out and hang out with guys. She liked to hang out with different guys, not the same one every night. Guys talk about girls like this and spread nasty rumors about them. These rumors probably did not escape the ears of Arnold Friend. So even before he saw Connie for the first time he probably had the idea that she was easy. He said as much towards the end of the story when he started naming people she knew and telling her that they told him things about her (Oates 983).
Arnolds uses his charms and good looks when he enters to start off his adventure. It is clear that Connie enjoyed
That’s right. Come over here to me… Now come out through the kitchen to me, honey, and let’s see a smile, try it, you’re a brave, sweet little girl’”(Oates 7). “She put her hand against the screen. She watch herself push the door slowly open as if she were back safe somewherein the other doorway, watching this body and this head of long hair moving out into the sunlight where Arnold Friend waited”(7). What had gotten into Connie, why would she go out with Arnold knowing that all he is going to do is hurt her. Readers may think she is a state of shock and the only thing she can do to protect her family is by going with Arnold.
Being sexualized by the boys around her, Connie is self-conscious and finds her worth in beauty. The story even states, “She knew she was pretty and that was everything” (Oates 422). She is concerned about her appearance and what others think of her because she has been taught that she lacks any value outside of physical beauty norms. Arnold Friend, even tells Connie, “...be sweet like you can because what else is there for a girl like you but to be sweet and pretty and give in?” (Oates 432). Between this coaxing and the consistent message about the importance of beauty, Connie is nearly forced to conform to this mentality, which displays the lack of respect for young females as human beings. This in turn leads women to self-degradation as they are consistently viewed as sexual
Initially, Oates portrays Connie as an extremely conceded young woman. "She was fifteen and she had a quick nervous habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people's faces to make sure her own was all right." Oates set the tone for Connie's character by that statement alone. It was obvious that Connie was a pretty girl but what was more obvious is that Connie knew it. Connie's conceded quality was first revealed as she "gawked" at herself in a mirror to the point where it angered her mother. I imagine Connie's mother was probably talking to her and realized she was not paying attention to anything she said, fascinated by the reflection.
Connie was tired of the life she was living and, she was ready to make decisions for herself and to deal with the consequences for them. She knew that if her parents found out about her going to the diner that she would be in trouble. Connie did not care about the consequences for her actions. She felt like it was time to grow up and be a woman. She wanted to start to experiment with her sexuality. Connie wanted boys to start to notice her and talk to her. Connie thinks that guys could be her savior by helping deliver her from the pressure and anxieties from her sister and mother. Her going out on her own makes her realize that she does not have to please anyone, only herself. When Connie and her friend went to the diner she met this guy Arnold. Obviously being with Eddie for three hours in a dark alley and diner was not the best first move for her. This is the one decision that will change her life forever. This was probably the first guy that gave Connie some attention. So obviously she is going to soak him up and just...
When Connie first meets Arnold, she doesn’t know who he is: he’s just a creepy guy in the parking lot. However, Arnold sees her as an adult woman who is ready to pursue a relationship with her because that is what her appearance says about her. In reality that’s all it is, her appearance and she is not ready for that type of relationship. So, when Arnold Friend came by and was persuading her to come with him saying, “Don’tcha wanta see what’s on the car? Don’tcha wanta go for a ride?” (Oates 375). This line is one of the many that he used to persuade girls to get into his car. Also, he is making all moves to get closer to kidnapping Connie. Connie did try to avoid him but she had false hopes. Although Connie seemed to be confused there are many girls like this that fall for someone’s charms even if they are sincere or not just because these girls seek for someone to appreciate them. Arnold Friend said. “But I promise it won’t last long and you’ll like me that way you get to like people you’re close to.” (Oates 383). These statements give Connie confidence to leave her house and go with him regardless if they just
The Theme of Temptation in “Where Are You Going , Where Are you Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates
Gatsby spent his entire life working up from poverty and finding ways to gain wealth. Through becoming an officer, he meets Daisy, but cannot have her until he can provide for her. This causes him to leave her in order to become wealthy, but as he does this, Daisy marries Tom, not for love, but for money. Even when Gatsby returns, Daisy still has trouble leaving Tom and telling him how she really feels. Perhaps this is because it is so sudden, which also shows how the male characters easily persuade female characters. Daisy had been with Tom for years and now Gatsby shows up, even eats lunch with Tom which is ironic, but expects Daisy to just walk away as if it’s not a big deal. “Tom was feeling the hot whips of panic. His wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate, were slipping precipitately from his control,” (131). This is when Tom begins to realize that he’s losing Daisy, but the important aspect of this situation is what Daisy is trying to get out of this and how the men can easily affect the women. After Daisy allows Jay to get blamed for the murder, and destroy his name for her, it shows how she had never cared about anyone but herself. She might have enjoyed spending time with Gatsby, but if he didn’t have the money that he did, she wouldn’t have even looked at him. Once Gatsby has this power, he is able to pressure Daisy into leaving her
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
Oates uses a great number of symbols in her short story "Where are you going? Where have you been? to create an aura of unease and Devilishness. Her principal symbols are Arnold Friend, his disguise, and the music Connie listens to. Oates' use of symbolism and Biblical allusions to Satan force the reader to raise an eyebrow to the character of Arnold Friend and the doomed future of Connie.
By doing that, it also gave Arnold Friend a hint that she was easy to manipulate. Then, concerning the dialogue element, the explanation for both the movie and the short-story will be the same since I use the passage between Arnold Friend and Connie at her house. Since Connie is responding so naively at the very beginning of their conversation, it is almost certain that Arnold would succeed to manipulate her. In fact, the biggest mistake she made was to actually get out of the house and start the conversation with him: "She went into the kitchen and approached the door slowly, then hung out the screen door, her bare toes curling down off the step" (314). Through this action, it already gave Arnold Friend the idea that she is innocent and vulnerable; the only thing left was to seduce her with his words. Finally, I believe the movie would better suits the theme because we can visually observe how innocent she is with her mimics, her behaviour, her clothing. Although Oates’ short-story is very descriptive, the message behind this story doesn’t have the same effect on us than the
...tomy between reality and dreams quite well throughout her piece. She provides the reader with two ways to experience the story: either as reality or as reality that turns into a nightmare. This dichotomy that Oates creates “allows the reader to escape this story, and allows this story to end” (Hurley 374). The end of the story shows Connie entering the new world of experience, and Oates wants the reader to sense her fear. Oates intricately provides the reader with clues that help see why Connie’s experience with Arnold is just a nightmare. She also allows the reader to see how this nightmare is meant to scare Connie into making the realization that her decisions have consequences. I hope that anyone reading this learns from Connie that not everything we do is good for us, and we have to think about the consequences of our actions, whether good or bad, before we act.
In Joyce Carol Oates’ short story, “Where Have You Been, Where are[a] You Going?,” Oates employs motifs, symbolism, and allegories to convey her holistic tone of disapproval towards the actions and outlook of the main character, Connie. Motifs are seen primarily in the references to music that channel Connie’s escape out of reality. Symbolism is also evident in the piece through the setting of Connie’s home which represents her only source of protection. The overall allegorical nature of the piece accentuates the ominous relationship between Connie and Arnold and foreshadows the ending. Through analyzing the active usage of motifs, symbolism, and allegory throughout the work, one can gain a clearer understanding of how these elements of fiction function together to produce Oates’ tone of dissatisfaction towards Connie.
Connie’s clothes and infatuation with her own beauty symbolize her lack of maturity or knowing her true self, which in the end enables her to be manipulated by Arnold Friend. Connie was enamored with her own beauty; in the beginning of the story Oates states that Connie “knew
Her identity was pure, innocent, young and beautiful. At first, she just wanted to have a pure feeling with Gatsby, but when Gatsby went to the front, she could not stand the loneliness and the family persuasion, and she chose to marry Tom. When she chose to marry Tom and abandon Gatsby, her new identity increased material and selfishness. Her identity as a wealthy lady remains, but her purity is long gone. However, Gatsby was not aware of it. Another identity of daisy is a vain woman. In a society badly affected by consumerism, she chose to drift with the tide. She loves all luxuries, but all of this is entirely dependent on Tom. So although Tom had all kinds of romantic affairs,