Larry Rubin's Dream

482 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Sleepwalking essays

I agree with Larry Rubin, in my opinion Connie has fallen asleep outside in the sun. I believe Connie is dreaming of Arnold Friend and Ellie Oscar. “She shook her head as if to get awake. (196)” She had gone into a quick daze or daydreaming and then fell asleep. “When she opened her eyes she hardly knew where she was. (196)” Connie had seen Arnold the day before at the restaurant while sneaking over to where the older people were hanging out. That memory invited him to come into her dream as an older gentleman. It has happened to me before when I see people or things they pop up into my dreams somehow. I agree with Larry Rubin the fact that the music being broadcast on Arnolds radio as being the same as that emanating from her own in the house

Show More
Related

  • Biblical Allusion in Joyce Carol Oates' Story "Where are You Going? Where Have You Been?"

    1064 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...eft the house. The room is filled with "hard, fast, shrieking songs she [sings] along with" and her heart begins beating quickly. Arnold suddenly pulls in to the driveway, his radio tuned to the same radio station. The music behind Arnold is "perpetual" and symbolizes the danger that Connie has brought upon herself. The reader is put off by Connie's wanton and careless romp at the beginning of the story and, subconsciously, the reintroduction of fast music makes him uneasy again.

    Read More

  • Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Analysis Essay

    1213 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Ignorance In Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    A mysterious car pulled into Connie’s driveway and the driver proceeds to get out of his vehicle, showing that he belonged there, not recognizing the car Connie opens the door to her house and leans out it. “She went into the kitchen and approached the door slowly, then hung out the screen door,” (2). Without even knowing who or why this person has come to her house, Connie opens her door and leans out to possible talk to the driver, who would turn out to be Arnold Friend and wants to take her on a “date”. Connie’s ignorance towards Arnold and his arrival almost immediately puts her in a vulnerable state without her even realizing it, this vulnerability would be the first event to foreshadow Connie’s inevitable kidnapping. After greeting and talking to Arnold for a little, he proceeds to ask Connie if she wants to go for a ride in his car. Instead of turning down the offer since she barely, if at all, knew Arnold, Connie somewhat debates it. “Connie smirked and let her hair fall loose over her shoulder,” (3). Though she lacks any information about Arnold, Connie kind of debates taking up his offer to go for a ride, further letting her ignorance towards the entire situation usher her into an even more vulnerable

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

    649 Words  | 2 Pages

    One important symbol present in the story is Arnold's orange car. I think that it is meant to resemble Cinderella's pumpkin carriage. In Cinderella's fairytale the carriage is what liberates Cinderella from her unhappy family life to the ball where she meets her prince charming, falls in love him, becomes a princess, and in the end lives happily ever after. In this story, rather than whisking Connie away to happiness Arnold is most likely going to take her happiness and her innocence away from her once she agrees to get in the car. It is an old car that has been made to look newer than it really is. And on some level, the car also helps Connie to realize how important her family is to her. Although Connie might see it differently her family life really isn't so bad. She is a somewhat self-centered girl who thinks of herself as better than her mother and sister and attributes their familial problems to them being jealous of her. She doesn't seem to care much about them throughout the story until Arnold comes in his carriage to take her away from it all. Then she realizes how much she cares about them and even agrees to go with him just to keep her family safe from Arnold, who has shown her that he knows exactly what her family is like and even what they are doing in that precise moment.

    Read More

  • Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been By Joyce Carol Oates

    1579 Words  | 4 Pages

    The tragic situation of Connie relates to the real life chain of murders in Tucson, Arizona. Tom Quirk iterates that Oates seems to get her creative imagination from “real criminal and real crime”, the irony is the story of Connie is sadly all too familiar in society (Quirk 413). The characters of Eddie and Ellie Oscar are figures that are not particularly familiar to readers. The lack of dialogue from these characters tend to neglect their significance, however studying them may actually connect a few dots that Oates purposely leaves for the reader to wonder. The comparison of Eddie and Ellie inclines that they are actually the same person. From research into Ellie’s appearance and mysterious motivation to remain unnoticed by Connie hints at the notion that instead of young teenage boy named Eddie accompanying Connie at the restaurant, it was none other than Ellie disguising himself. Although some find it bizarre that Connie could not see Eddie/Ellie for who he was while spending hours with him, one must take into account that Connie was more into herself rather than the boy she was with. Along with Connie’s natural infatuation with herself, the drive-in restaurant presented distractions such as the bright lights and loud music which aided Eddie/Ellie. The main antagonist Arnold Friend makes various statements and questionable actions that support the theory that Ellie has already encountered Connie at some point in time, thus providing the explanation as to how he knew so much information about

    Read More

  • Skinny Love Analysis

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    The song that was custom fit for Connie is Skinny Love by Birdy. Skinny Love mirrors Connie’s insincerity with his relationship between himself and his wife. Steinbeck wrote about how Connie, “put a hand on her stood close, so that his body touched her at hip and shoulder, and he felt that this kept a relation that might be departing” (Steinbeck 64). Connie always feels like he has to be with Rose of Sharon or else he would lose her emotionally. Skinny love perfectly describes how Connie feels because it focuses on the fickleness of a relationship. The singer mentions how if someone were to “pour a little salt, [it would be as if they] were never here”. Skinny Love is a song that is specifically for Connie because it relates to how he feels about his relationship with his

    Read More

  • Where are you Going? Where Have you Been? by Joyce Carol Oates

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Analysis

    881 Words  | 2 Pages

    When approached by Arnold Friend at first, she was skeptical but was still charmed by him. As she began to feel uneasy, Connie could have used her intuition to realize that he was trouble. Once she had been engaged by Arnold, her life was over. The influences on Connie and her lack of instilled reasoning led to her down fall. Her family’s fragmented nature was echoed in her actions; consequently, she was unable to communicate with her parents, and she was never was able to learn anything of significance. She felt abandoned and rejected, because no one took the initiative to teach her how to make good decisions. Connie was unable to mature until she was faced with death and self sacrifice. In the end, her situation made it difficult for her to think and reason beyond the position she was in. By not being able apply insight, she fell into Arnold Friends lure. Misguidance by the parents strongly contributed to Connie’s

    Read More

  • Where Are You Going?

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Where Are You Going?

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rubin attempts to convey the idea that Connie falls asleep in the sun and has a daydream in which her “…intense desire for total sexual experience runs headlong into her innate fear…” (58); and aspects of the story do seem dream like - for instance the way in which the boys in Connie’s daydreams “…dissolved into a single face…” (210), but the supposition that the entire episode is a dream does not ring true. There are many instances in which Connie perceives the frightening truth quite clearly; she is able to identify the many separate elements of Friend’s persona - “… that slippery friendly smile of his… [and] the singsong way he talked…” (214). But because of the lack of attachment with her own family, and her limited experience in relating deeply to others, “…all of these things did not come together” (214) and Connie is unable to recognize the real danger that Arnold Friend poses until it is too late.

    Read More

  • The Impossible American Dream

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American Dream is known to be a hope for a better, richer, happier life for all citizens of every class. For almost all Americans, this entails earning a college degree, gaining a good job, buying a house, and starting a family. Although this seems wonderful, a large amount of the American population believes that the Dream has changed immensely because of increased prices in today’s society, the price of tuition being highly unaffordable, as well as the unemployment rate skyrocketing and weaker job growth. While some American citizens believe it has changed, others believe that the American Dream has not changed, but point out it is harder to obtain.

    Read More

  • Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Rhetorical Analysis

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    Arnold then appears at Connie’s house and she notes that “the driver’s [Arnold’s] glasses were metallic and mirrored everything in miniature” (980); perhaps this is the allure of freedom that Connie sees in him, but as the story progresses, the sunglasses begin to inhabit an ominous future as opposed to the initial context. She remains under his constant stare and is subsequently controlled by this. Urbanski even touches on this recurring motif in the story, stating that “she [Connie] is unable to make a telephone call for help because he is watching her; she bumps against a piece of furniture in a familiar room; and when he commands her to do what would otherwise seem an irrational act, to place her hand on her heart to understand its flaccidity, she readily obeys” (Urbanski 2). The next recurrence of looking is in the second to last paragraph of the story where the existential allegory comes to fruition: “She watched herself push the door slowly open as if she were back safe somewhere in the other doorway, watching this body and this head of long hair moving out into the sunlight where Arnold Friend waited” (Oates 989). Perhaps it is in this moment that Connie recognizes herself and is able to step outside of the lighthearted story of a teenage girl experiencing the perils of coming-of-age and “not simply surrendering her virginal innocence, but bowing to absolute forces which her youthful coquetry cannot direct—absolute forces over which she has no control” (Urbanski

    Read More

  • Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Literary Analysis

    345 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the Joyce Carol Oates story, Where Are you Going, Where Have you Been, the main character, Connie, lives in this false sense of life and love. Connie believes that in her future her life will play out “the way it was in the movies and promised in songs.” Most people follow they same way as thinking as Connie. They believe that in the end it will be this happily ever after, that it might start of in a certain way but end with this gracious ending. Since Connie believes this way it affects her decision in the end of the story. This way of thinking leads to her maybe going with Arnold Friend, “she watched herself push the door slowly open as if she were back safe somewhere in the other doorway”, this belief of her is almost drawing her to Arnold.

    Read More

  • Arnold Friend

    948 Words  | 2 Pages

    At first, Ellie just sits in the car without a care of what’s happening between Connie and Arnold. However, by giving him a second thought, it’s almost like he’s the last resort in the plan, the one to really cause trouble if Arnold couldn’t get Connie to come with them. It seems that he wanted to get the whole thing over with; he remained quiet throughout the whole scenario, and suddenly said, “You want me to pull out the phone?” (Oates) when Connie tries fighting back. After finally seeing Ellie’s face, it was the first time that Connie started feeling uncomfortable and says, “Maybe you two better go away” (Oates). This shows how big of an impact Ellie had because he made Connie realize that maybe something was actually wrong with the situation. There is much more to the character of Ellie Oscar than just being the strange man in the car, and it will take more analyzing to uncover

    Read More

  • Arnold Friend Psychology

    1095 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to A.R. Coulthard, the author of the story scrupulously reproduced her details based on Charles Schmid who murdered Alleen Rowe in 1965 (Coulthard). Alleen was just one of other young teenagers that Charles and his buddy John raped and assassinated. There is no doubt that John represents Arnold’s frightening friend Ellie. What is more, there are several parallels between the story itself and Alleen’s murder. By way of illustration, Connie was fifteen years old, which is the same age as Alleen at the moment of her murder. Also, Connie has just washed her hair like Alleen did right before her aggressors appeared. Connie was at home alone unable to defend herself as well as the other girl. However, the most interesting demonstration is how Arnold’s description duplicates strange characteristics of Charles: “Like Friend, he was short (5’3”) and muscular, and he tried to appear younger and to disguise his lack of height by dying his hair black, wearing pancake makeup, and stuffing rags and even crumpled cans into his black leather boots” (Coulthard). Arnold even drives “a convertible jalopy painted gold” (Oates 552) and loves popular rock music just as real Charles does. All these little particulars from a true assassination lead to the belief of realistic

    Read More

More about Larry Rubin's Dream

Open Document