M K Cantrell D. Hicks English 1102 6 November 2013 Connie’s Coming of Age In her famous short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Joyce Carol Oates shows the transition from childhood to adulthood through her character Connie. Each person experiences this transition in their own way and time. For some it is leaving home for the first time to go to college, for others it might be having to step up to a leadership position. No matter what, this transition affects everyone; it just happens to everyone differently. Oates describes Connie's unfortunate coming of age in a much more violent and unexpected way than the typical coming of age story for a fifteen year old girl. Connie has the need to be viewed as older and as more mature than she really is, all the while still displaying childlike behavior. She shows this childlike behavior by “craning her neck to glance in mirrors [and] checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right” (Oates 323). This shows that Connie is very insecure and needs other people’s approval. Although on one side she is very childish, on the other side she has a strong desire to be treated like an adult. This longing for adulthood is part of her coming of age, and is demonstrated by her going out to “bright-lit, fly-infested restaurant[s]” and meeting boys, staying out with those boys for three hours at a time, and lying to her parents about where she has been and who she has been with (Oates 325, 326). “Everything about her ha[s] two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home” (Oates 324). Even her physical movements represent her two-sided nature: “her walk that could be childlike and bobbing, or languid enough to make anyone think she was hearin... ... middle of paper ... ... a Satyr in Oates.’ ‘Where Are You Going; Where Have You Been?’” Studies in Short Fiction. Vol. 27 Issue 4 (Fall 1990): 537. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 November 2013. Gillis, Christina “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”: Seduction, Space, and A Fictional Mode.” Studies in Short Fiction. Vol. 18 Issue 1, (Winter 1981): 65 Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 November 2013. Cuizon, Gwendolyn. "Oate's Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been." Suite101.com. N.p., 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 06 Nov. 2013. The Eternal Present in Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Michele D. Theriot, Journal of Short Story in English, 48, (Spring 2007): 59-70. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 November 2013. Oates, Joyce Carol. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Backpack Literature. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2010. Print.
Oates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Celestial Timepiece. July 2007. U of San Francisco. 15 Mar. 2008.
”Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” is a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates, which explores the life of a teenage girl named Connie. One of the issues this story divulges is the various stresses of adolescence. Connie, like so many others, is pressured to conform according to different social pressures, which displays the lack of respect female adolescents face. The music culture, young men, and family infringe upon young female minds to persuade them to look or act in certain ways, showing a disrespect for these girls. While some perhaps intend their influence for good, when put into practice, the outcome often has a negative effect. Moreover, this can lead young women to confusion and a lack of self-respect, which proves
The author begins her message with the title of her work, which conveys the idea of passages of time in life. The phrase "where are you going" suggests a time in the future, and the phrase "where have you been" evokes the past. Oates' message continues through the plot and characters. The basic elements of "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" are rooted in a true story of a 1965 crime. Occurring just a year before Oates' 1966 story was published, the "parallels between [th...
Oates, Joyce Carol. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Exploring Literature: Writing and Arguing about Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. By Frank Madden. 5th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2012. 436-48. Print.
Joyce Carol Oates' short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" written in the late sixties, reveals several explanations of its plot. The story revolves around a young girl being seduced, kidnapped, raped and then killed. The story is purposely vague and that may lead to different interpretations. Teenage sex is one way to look at it while drug use or the eerie thought that something supernatural may be happening may be another. The story combines elements of what everyone may have experienced as an adolescent mixed with the unexpected dangers of vanity, drugs, music and trust at an early age. Ultimately, it is up to the reader to choose what the real meaning of this story is. At one point or another one has encountered, either through personal experience or through observation, a teenager who believes that the world is plotting against them. The angst of older siblings, peer pressure set upon them by their friends, the need for individualism, and the false pretense that at fifteen years of age, they are grown are all factors which affect the main character in this story.
Caldwell, Tracy M. "Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?." Literary Contexts In Short Stories: Joyce Carol Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?' (2006): 1-8. Literary Reference Center. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
Kozikowski, Stan. "The Wishes and Dreams Our Hearts Make in Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'." Short Story Criticism, edited by Joseph Palmisano, vol. 70, Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GLS&sw=w&u=avl_madi&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CH1420056819&asid=22c8b2317a25bc24bae39d92a1b7b8ed. Accessed 30 Oct. 2017. Originally published in Journal of the Short Story in English, no. 33, Autumn 1999, pp.
In her short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, Joyce Carol Oates presents us with a well known maxim: children cannot wait to get older. Tired of her boring and powerless childhood, Connie, the main character, searches for cheap thrills she likens to adulthood. Thus, Connie’s surreal experience (Arnold Friend’s sudden and unwanted appearance in his car) represents a suppressed fear of the inevitable and unknown - growing up.
“Where are you going, Where Have You Been” is one of the most popular story written by Joyce Carol Oates, one of the greatest author in America. The story is about a
In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Oates wants to show a more intellectual and symbolic meaning in this short story. Oates has many symbolic archetypes throughout the short story along with an allegory. Oates uses these elements in her story by the selection of detail and word choice used. Oates does this because she wants to teach her audience a moral lesson.
“Oates’s Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”. Taylor & Francis, 9 July 2010, 1987. Accessed 31 Oct 2017.
Joyce Carol Oates intrigues readers in her fictional piece “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by examining the life of a fifteen year old girl. She is beautiful, and her name is Connie. Oates lets the reader know that “everything about her [Connie] had two sides to it, one for home, and one for anywhere but home (27). When Connie goes out, she acts and dresses more mature than she probably should. However, when she is at home, she spends the majority of her time absorbed with daydreams “about the boys she met”(28). This daydreaming behavior is observable to the reader throughout the story. From theories about dreams, theories about subconscious thought, and the clues that Oates provides, the reader is lead to believe that Connie’s experience with Arnold Friend is a nightmare used to awaken her to the consequences that her behavior could result in.
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.
Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is about a young girl's struggle to escape reality while defying authority and portraying herself as a beauty queen; ultimately, she is forced back to reality when confronted by a man who symbolizes her demise. The young girl, Connie, is hell- bent on not becoming like her mother or sister. She feels she is above them because she is prettier. She wants to live in a "dream world" where she listens to music all day and lives with Prince Charming. She does not encounter Prince Charming but is visited by someone, Arnold Friend, who embodies the soul of something evil. Arnold Friend symbolizes "Death" in that he is going to take Connie away from the world she once knew. Even if she is not dead, she will never be the same person again, and will be dead in spirit. With the incorporation of irony, Oates illustrates how Connie's self-infatuation, her sole reason for living, is the reason she is faced with such a terrible situation possibly ending her life.
Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'." Journal of the Short Story in English. 33 (Autumn 1999): 89-103. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Joseph Palmisano. Vol. 70. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 89-103. Literature Resource Center. Gale.