Nathan Darsey
Professor Jordan
English 1302.4058
5 May 2014
Dreams vs. Reality
The story Where are you going where have you been can be argued to support the theory of dream. The character Connie faces a situation with Arnold Friend that raises question about whether or not she is living out the scenario or dreaming. Looking at certain points throughout the short story where Arnold Friend mentions her family, the way Connie acts throughout the encounter, and the physical appearance of Arnold, one can discuss how the situation is not as it appears. After looking at the different point of the situation one can be able to determine that Connie was dreaming rather than living it out.
First, we look at the characters and their respective personalities when they first encountered one another. Connie is a normal girl who likes to get noticed for her looks and personality. She lives a double life, where her parents and family see a girl at the movies and socializing with girlfriends, and the other side to her is at the burger restaurant flirting with guys and exposing her looks for her personal gain. When we encounter Arnold, he is just a normal guy who flirts with Connie just like every guy has. He is described in the story as a typical guy in his 20s , with a shaggy hair that appeared to be a wig rather than his actual hair.
This leads him into the next scene when he arrives at her house in a “gold jalopy.” Instantly, Connie is attracted to the car and worries about her appearance to the stranger at the door. However, she also experiences doubts and precaution because she is home alone and a stranger is approaching her house. This is her first experience with someone arriving to her house and does not have any exper...
... middle of paper ...
...dy would want to come to evil on their own, so he hides his true identity, and for the devil, one coming to evil out of their own will is much more a victory then being forced into it. This fundamental philosophy of choice is true in circumstances ranging from schoolwork to making love; it is much more satisfying to choose something then to be forced into it. For example, because a person has the choice to go, or not to go, to college, most college students take their schooling more seriously than high school students. Eve had the choice on whether or not to disobey God in the Garden of Eden, and although Satan’s trickery resulted in her disobeying, had she chosen to obey God’s command, her choice would have been much more rewarding.
The story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” has many underlying themes and can be subject to different interpretations.
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.
This theory is from Sigmund Freud, an interesting psychologist with a different aspect of the human psyche. Part of Freud 's theory I find most intriguing is the dream analysis portion. I believe that dreams are the link to the unconscious. Which makes it easier to understand where Freud is coming from with his logic in using this technique to analyze what a person is feeling. The psychoanalytic theory looks closely into the unconscious portion of a person 's mind, which I agree can reveal multiple troubles that would not be found if you didn 't look deep into the patients thoughts and memories. The theory had some downfalls as well as these great aspects.
...most people trying to put on a show for themselves or for others. Connie was a young individual who thought she knew everything, but was not given the chance to find that out on her own. Some things may have pushed her into the arms of Arnold Friend. For example, it could have been his sharp, repetitive words that Connie made herself believe. Arnold Friend fooled her in the beginning and by making himself appear to be “an old friend” but his interior read “arch fiend”. Arnold Friend is a mythological character that represents the evil that sits in everyone. In some people that evil can burst out like rays of light, like the ones that were described in the story by Connie. Like the expression, “there is a devil on one shoulder, and an angel on the other”, Arnold Friend was Connie's devil.
Connie sits outside enjoying the sunny day and listening to music. We learn that music is her major weakness, it disconnects Connie from the real world, making her daydream and think of guys, in this case the author tells that she was thinking of everything she did with Eddie the night before and of how nice and gentle he was.
Throughout the story, Arnold Friend is portrayed by Oates as a creepy, provocative stalker. When Friend is first brought to the attention of the reader, it is when Connie is out with friends. As she walks by Friend’s car, he “wags a finger” and says “Gonna get you, baby.” This also displays how underdeveloped Connie 's psyche is. This first notion sent by Arnold Friend should have startled Connie, but she payed no attention to it, she was too concerned with the moment of attention she was receiving from Eddie and all the people around her. Arnold Friend comes to Connie 's home, knowing she was alone and attempts to persuade her to get into his car to go for a ride. This is the first time Connie has ever talked to Arnold Friend, but he already knows everything about her. He knows where she lives, where her parents are, who her friends are, and what her interest are. Connie questions how he knows all of her personal information and he replies with “I know your name and all about you, lots of things. I took a special interest in you, such a pretty young girl, and found out all about you” (Oates). This quote is a clear indication that Arnold Friend is a threatening, menacing stalker. All of these scenarios show Arnold friends underdeveloped psyche. He is somewhere around thirty years old, and does not know what is right and what is wrong. From Oates description of Arnold Friend and his
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.
The history of dreaming began in the early centuries. “Dreams were often considered prophetic” (Comptons by Britannica). That means that dreams were seen as a message from the gods. Thousands of years ago, “Greek sick people slept in temples in order to receive dreams that would heal them” (Kantrowitz, Babara; Springen Karen). Current dream science started at the end of the 19th century. Dreams were seen as a kind of “desires” (Kantrowitz; Springen) stemming from childhood. Scientists still don’t know for sure why we are dreaming and what are dreams made of; howe...
One way that, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", is a perculiar story is how at Connies house, Connie tells him again to leave and then she fear strikes her as she grows a little dizzy when Arnold Friend begins to tell Connie where they are and what they are doing at that exact and precise moment. She gets very nervous when he tells her that he knows that they are at the barbeque at their neighbors house. Hearing this information and everything that this man knows, Connie grows extremely horrified, but also very fascinated by his precise description of what was happening. Connie wants to go into the house because Arnold Friend moves closer towards the porch ...
The average person spends over one-third of their life sleeping, and over this period of time he or she can have over 1,825 dreams (Wicklinski). By definition, dreams are mental images, thoughts, or emotions that are experienced while sleeping. In the beginning, dreams were thought to be messages sent from the gods or spirit world. Researchers now have many theories explaining why people dream. Many of these theories explain that dreams can resemble an individual’s sensory experiences or even secret wishes. All people dream, but only 42% of people can recall their dreams from the night before (“Dreams”). The study of dreams is a topic that is constantly being debated by researchers for many reasons. Dreaming is important because it can impact people’s health, provide insight into what they are feeling, and reveal information about their behavior.
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.
Gale Kozikowski, Stan. " The Wishes and Dreams Our Hearts Make in Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'. " Journal of the Short Story in English. 33 (Autumn 1999): 89-103.
Where do dreams come from? What actually are dreams? Do they mean something that is related in our real lives? All these questions can be answered by learning about the history of dreams in various cultures throughout time.
Why do we dream? How do dreams provide insight into the mind? Are dreams relevant to waking life? “Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the action stems the dream again, and this interdependence produces the highest form of living (Nin).” Dreams can be defined as, “...a series of thoughts, visions, or feelings, that are experienced by the mind during sleep.” On average an adults get about seven to eight hours of sleep a night,a substantial amount of human kinds time is spent asleep. If a person lives a total of 90 years they will have slept for 31 years, 1,624 weeks, 272,910 hours, and will have dreamt for 34,114 hours, so a massive chunk of humanities lives are spent in the sleep cycle.
giving off electric brain waves. During non-REM the brain waves are slow and large while
There is a state of consciousness in which one could be or experience anything imaginable. This state encompasses the ability to dream (1). The dream state is quite remarkable and incorporates infinite possibilities for the dreamer within each of us. Nietzsche (1844-1900), a German philosopher, points out that dreams were a puzzle since “the ages of rude beginning of culture” when “man believed that he was discovering a second real world in a dream... (2).” The question that human beings were wrestling with since then is: why do we have dreams and what, if anything, do they mean. On the one hand, there are a number of prominent scientists, such as Drs. Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley of Harvard University, who argue that we dream for physiological reasons only and that dreams are nothing more than “meaningless biology” lacking any psychological content. The opposing view comes from a large number of psychoanalysts that follow Freudian thought. They believe that we dream for psychological reasons and that any dream can and should be interpreted because it is a road to our unconsciousness. Following Sir Richard Burton’s observation that “truth is the shattered mirror strown in myriad bits; while each believes his little bit the whole to own,” I will take a middle ground position in regards to current dream theories. This position recognizes that dreams might have physiological determinants, as well as psychological ones (3). Such an approach lets one explore the problem from more that one angle, thereby allowing a more “truthful” synthesis of the various pieces of our current knowledge of dreams. Before examining any dream theories, we must have some knowledge of the nature of dreams and of t...