Oftentimes, a tense situation is all that is needed to completely transform one’s mental state. In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, the protagonist Connie is a rebellious individual who desires independence. She participates in normal adolescent activities while possessing a rather optimistic outlook on life. However, she eventually falls victim to Arnold Friend’s advances while she is home alone. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie possibly meets a violent end as her energetic and unruly persona quickly turns into one of anxiousness and irrationality when confronted with a dangerous situation. At the beginning of the plot, Connie takes on the character of a typical American …show more content…
She desires independence from her parents, believing she is mature enough to make her own decisions. After Connie rejects her parents and is left home alone, a man named Arnold Friend arrives, claiming to be her lover. Connie swiftly rejects Aronld: "’Shut up! You're crazy,’ Connie said. She backed away from the door” (Oates 3). She upholds her skeptical personality, rebuffing Arnold in spite of his advances. However, as Arnold continues approaching, Connie becomes increasingly irrational. “Something roared in her ear, a tiny roaring, and 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.” As Connie begins to take action against Arnold Friend’s advances and threats, she enters a state of confusion and fear, contrasting with her confident, independent persona she maintained. Connie gives in to Arnold Friend and allows herself to enter his captivity, possibly facing a bad fate.“She was hollow with what had been fear but what was now just an emptiness. .
The characterization of Connie in the short story, “Where Are You Going? Where have you been?” affects the theme of who is to blame for the kidnapping by portraying Connie as a pretty girl to into herself, a puerile teenager that cannot decide who to be, and a reluctant girl that ignores her mother. This characterization makes Connie seem immature. When Arnold gets to see Connie, the ignorance and immaturity of Connie gives Arnold Friend the perfect opening to abduct Connie.
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.
I think Connie opened the screen door because she wanted to escape from her life with her family into some kind of fantasy. I think there were other reasons also, but the story points to this one in many places.
Arnold Friend takes advantage of Connie’s teenage innocence for something of a much more sinister purpose. Connie thought she had it all figured out until Arnold Friend came into her life and up her driveway on one summer, Sunday afternoon and made her realize how big and scary the world can be. Arnold embodies everything that Connie has dreamed about in a boy, but is in the most malevolent form of Connie’s dream boy. She always wanted to get away from her family because she has always felt as if she didn’t belong and Arnold can make this possible just in the most predatory way. She always thought sex would be sweet (and consensual) and that she would be in charge of how it progressed, Arnold strips her of the authority she’s held in any other encounter with a boy. The moral of the story is always be careful what you wish
In Joyce Carol Oates's short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" the protagonist introduced is Connie, who is an interesting and strong character. Just like every other teenager, she is searching for a purpose and trying to find her place in society. Although Connie seems to be an incredibly self absorbed teenage girl, there is a part of her personality that is different than the rest. She lives a double life, having one personality around her house, with her family, and the other when she is hanging out with friends in public. Due to this double personality, the reader can't help but become intrigued and question which girl she truly is.
In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie is a normal teenage girl who is approached outside her home by a guy named Arnold Friend who threatens to harm her, and she obeys, if she does not get in the car with him. Connie is the main character in this story who teaches us that sometimes we might search for adult independence too early before we are actually ready to be independent and on our own. Connie is so focused on her appearance that she works hard to create a mature and attractive adult persona that will get her attention from guys. This search for independence conflicts with Connie’s relationship with her family and their protection of her. Connie’s insecurity and low self-esteem is triggered by her fear of intimacy. Connie confuses having the attention of men with actually having them pursue her in a sexual way.
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.
The open ended design of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” leaves what happens to Connie to the reader’s interpretation but it also brings to question how it could’ve gone for her if she hadn’t been ignorant and self obsessed and whether if she would’ve been kidnapped either way. Everything can be good in moderation, whether it be the blissfulness of ignorance or the confidence that comes with small amounts of narcissism, but without moderation these ideals can be detrimental to what happens to those who go too
Have you ever been so focused on achieving your dreams that you become unaware of your current situation? When we focus on the goals ahead of us, we fail to see the obstacles and dangers that are in front of us. In order to achieve our goals we involuntarily put ourselves in an unwanted situation. Connie, herself, struggles to achieve her goal of being a desirable girl that turns heads when she walks into the room. She becomes so set on being this girl that she doesn’t realize the danger of the situation. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Oates utilizes metaphors, diction, and imagery to show how Connie is in a constant tug between her reality and her dreams, and how this confines her freedoms in a world that is surrounded with malevolence.
Joyce Carol Oates is known for stories that have an everlasting effect on readers. Oates writing style was explained best herself, “I would like to create the physiological and emotional equivalent of an experience, so completely and in such exhaustive detail, that anyone who reads it sympathetically will have experienced that event in his mind” (Joslin 372). Oates’ short story Where are You going, Where have you been? perfectly fits the description of her work by placing the protagonist of the story Connie in a very uncomfortable situation with the antagonist Arnold Friend. The story focuses the aforementioned Connie and Arnold, Connie is 15 year old girl who loves the spotlight and all the attention that comes with it. Her beauty and vibrant
In the story “Where are you going, Where have you been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, the main character, Connie, experiences life not having an actively participating mother or father. Most adolescents struggle with the transition from teen-age years to adulthood. For many, this is where the parents step in. Parents are meant to support and help an adolescent when needed, especially during this difficult transition; however, this is not always true. In Connie’s case, her parents allowed her to make the change alone and endure hard times. As a result, she lacked the values needed to survive. Such values are used to equip a young person for the real world and the tragedies that come with it. As seen in “Where are you going, Where have you been?”, Connie was a victim of poor guidance and empty judgment. The dysfunctional family’s behavior was reflected in Connie. Her mother envied her, and her father was not an active figure in her life. Connie 's
As Arnold’s remarks and statements become more sexual and severe, her perception of a fantasy world is stripped away and now she is caught in between the scary truth of her dilemma. Her hopes of her family coming home soon, is irrelevant. Connie both horrified and amazed by his accuracy descriptions of her family leads her to begin screaming that he is crazy and to leave her house at once or else she will call the police. Arnold, without hesitation threatens her by saying he will not follow her into her house unless she touches the phone. With trembling fingers, Connie fails to lock the door of her house, but Arnold quickly points out that he could break down the door if he wanted to. Questioning what he wanted, Arnold replies that he wants her, and that he knew that she was the one for him. Arnold asks Connie to come out of the house or he will cause harm to her family. Connie makes her last effort to call for help, but is unable to reach the telephone. Connie “ cried out for her mother, she felt her breath start jerking back and forth in her lungs as if it was something Arnold Friend was stabbing her with again and again with no tenderness” (189). By this part of the story, Arnold has taken complete control of Connie and her emotions. Connie cannot think for herself and much less make that call for help. Keeping Connie trapped in her own home, makes Arnold seem possessive, and the
A huge amount of terror comes over Connie when she has her encounter with Arnold Friend, so much that she cannot even think straight after. She is overcome with the fear of facing that horrible man to the point where she just gives up and succumbs to him. This great terror of coming face to face with Arnold is driven by her wish to leave behind the truth of her
Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” tells the tale of a fifteen year old girl named Connie living in the early 1960’s who is stalked and ultimately abducted by a man who calls himself Arnold Friend. The short story is based on a true event, but has been analyzed by many literary scholars and allegedly possesses numerous underlying themes. Two of the most popular interpretations of the story are that the entire scenario is only dreamt by Connie (Rubin, 58) and that the abductor is really the devil in disguise (Easterly, 537). But the truth is that sometimes people really can just be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Connie, a victim of terrifying circumstance will be forever changed by her interactions with Friend.
These quixotic ideals and expectations of Connie are what put her in a vulnerable position due to the unrealistic world of love and boys she lives in. Her adult like persona and constant need for validation from others of her beauty is what leads Connie’s “two sided” self to be disconnected from the harsh realities that come alongside being an adult. Connie is forced to face this harrowing reality when the malignant antagonist, Arnold Friend, decides to show up to her house one day while her family is away at a barbecue. Arnold is almost the personification of the Devil as he lures himself into a conversation with Connie through deceit and manipulation. At first Connie “couldn't decided if she liked him or if he was just a jerk,” this statement portrays her naivety and the imaginary world she lives in as she tries to flaunt her amorous attitude in attempts of playing hard to get with a complete stranger. To achieve his sinful desire to hurt Connie, Arnold disingenuously dresses younger than his age, stuffs his shoes to appear taller and manipulatively fakes sharing the same interest in music as Connie to achieve a false sense of comfort and intimacy with her. Connie is abruptly thrown into the reality of