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Significant in young adult literature
Significant in young adult literature
Significant in young adult literature
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Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
“Where Are You Going, where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oats is a terrifying short tale around a fifth teen year old who is driven away to be kidnapped. Connie is an extremely appealing young lady and her pomposity does get her in hardships. "She knew she was pretty and that was everything" I see a conflict in the family as an aftereffect of Connie been attracted differentiation to her sister June constantly. The family does not get along with each other, something I can actually identify with. The father is uncaring at home, his always away for work. He returns home takes dinner, peruses his daily papers and go to bed. Connie’s simple life turns when she passes by Arnold Friend, who later on finds
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Connie and forces her to come with him or else her family, would suffer. Even at the age of twenty-four, my mom still asks me, the obvious question of “Where Are You Going and where have you been since” …?
The question that every worried parent ask when something happens. The narrator stresses the thought of a two-sided face or character, which likewise make this piece ageless and extremely applicable to today’s teens and society. Connie, for occurrence, has diverse sides of the same dress to show, contingent upon whether she is at home or in public. Arnold Friend who tries frantically to depict himself as a young sex-image uncovers his real face as somebody with mischievous goals. By the day's end, Connie's parents neglected to sound a reason to her and satisfy their essential obligation; which is all implanted in the expressions "Where are you going?" and "Where have you been? (Oates, …show more content…
1966)" The stories follows different themes, one of the biggest are sexuality and violence. The story is situated in 1960s America, a period when sexual values were being addressed, juvenile sexuality debate, and controversial roles of women. In the psychosexual show between the female juvenile protagonist and her male predator, the story investigates how the severe disposition toward sexuality in standard society (Oates, 1966). As well, as a connection to sexual violence and brutality by and large toward women. The story likewise investigates how savagery may be incorporated with the structure of society, into customs and qualities that some may feel are harsh or out of line. Another theme the author share is freedom and how free are you? For Connie, the house is on one hand the spot where she loses herself in fantasies powered by well-known music and film. On the other hand, it’s connected with parental limitations and the terrible existence of her rural housewife mother, an existence that may anticipate in her own particular future. Yet the option, an existence truly stopped on the driveway in Arnold Friend's car, is loaded with risk. The conceivable outcomes with the expectation of complimentary will in such an unusual circumstance is a focal inquiry of the story (Oates, 1966). Family is another controversial theme in the story the majority of the concern is attracted to the women of the family, whose connections are broken by a society that sees them as more than sexual, eligible, objects. With no more positive idea of womanhood, the women, sisters and mother, are inconsistent with each other: they are rivals or foes, however they can't be companions. The nonappearance of the father likewise dispenses with the likelihood for the girls to add to an important association with an imperative male figure. The also story asks us to reflect how America as artificial, wealth- and celebrity-obsessed society may play a role in the situation of its dealing of violence and adolescent sexuality. The narrator paints this photo of a young lady who underestimates life, a mother who declines to regulate her young girl, and a father is irresponsible of this his family provoking Connie's kidnapping. As Connie turns out to be more mindful of the risk that she is in, she comes to esteem her spirit, and subsequently she turns out to be keener to the endowment of life. The lesson merits telling in our advanced of life where material things overshadow life itself, we go to the phase where we are struck by a horrendous disease before we understand that bills are not the issues and we should be appreciative for the way that we have life. The assessment of this piece is the restriction encompassing what we let is sidetracked and what we come to esteem as the outmost significance.
Connie prides herself on being a gifted tease who has never been in a circumstance she couldn't deal with. This shows me the lesson of modesty in my vocation and individual life to listen to the individuals who have been there before me, tread mindfully and assume individual liability in molding my own life. Besides, as Connie later discovered that Arnold is not what he is by all accounts, so is it valid for the colloquialism that appearances are complex and I should be advised not to take individuals for their face esteem. Regardless if the action takes a brief time of time; it really catches lives, procedure, and communications that keep going for quite a long
time. Events such as these hit close to home because they're not accidental incidences or disasters that happen to people who live far away. They're awful things that normal people do and ordinary people grieve from. When does hateful language go too far? What energies apparently normal people to go to such heights of malice? In addition, what is it about love or sexual yearning that makes people vulnerable to violence and even homicide? "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" endures to resonate because the drama that motivated her story back in 1966 continues to play out, terribly, in our society today.
In Joyce Carol Oates’, “ Where are You going Where have you been,” it was a sunday morning when Arnold continues another one of his daily routines. The main girl, Connie, is a self-centered and shy girl, whose mother is always puts her in the background and makes her feel excluded. For instance, her mother says rude comments like “you think your so pretty” and “you don't see your sister using that junk” (1). Then a guy came into her life. “Where are You Going Where Have You been illustrates a man who uses charms and good looks to get young or middle aged women to satisfy himself, but with this one girl he has some trouble along the way.
Connie, from “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, wants to rebel against her family. She uses her attractiveness to flirt with boys at the local restaurant behind their backs as a form of rebellion. She feels as though her family does not appreciate her; her father does not pay any attention to her and her mother constantly compares her to her sister, criticizing her every move and asking why she cares so much about her appearance. On one of her outings she sees a boy who she vainly chooses to ignore. Later he shows up at her house posing as her friend, calling himself Arnold Friend, and talking to her as though he is another boy she flirts with down at the diner and pretending to be her age. She subtly flirts with him at first, only realizing the danger when it is too late.
"Connie, don't fool around with me. I mean—I mean, don't fool around," he said, shaking his head. He laughed incredulously. He placed his sunglasses on top of his head, carefully, as if he were indeed wearing a wig…” (Oates 6). Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” highlights an altercation, meeting, conflict and dispute between a teenage girl, named Connie, and a psychotic rapist named Arnold Friend. Throughout their altercation, Arnold Friend tempts and encourages Connie to get in the car with him and lead her to a variety of possible dangerous situations, one of which includes her getting raped . There is no doubt that Joyce Carol Oates’ uses Arnold Friend in her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” to symbolize the Devil and embody all of the evil and sinister forces that are present in our world. This becomes apparent when the reader focuses on how deranged Arnold Friend is and begins to
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is told from the point of view of a girl with “long dark blond hair that drew anyone’s eye to it” named Connie. Connie was a very pretty fifteen year old girl, which loved to go out with her friends and meet new people. Laura’s, the best friend of Connie, father “drove the girls the three miles to town and left them at a shopping plaza so they could walk through the stores or go to a movie”. It became a lifestyle for Connie which eventually became a problem being that she met a suspicious
The overuse of biblical allusions throughout the story helps to expose the naive nature of Connie that reveals her as a victim of evil which shows that lust often transgresses on an individual’s identity. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Joyce Carol Oates expressed the subjective ideas by symbolizing Arnold Friend as a devil that tempts a clueless teenage girl Connie, who wanted to experience love.
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.
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 the short story, Connie is a young, naïve, sassy, little girl who hates her mom and sister. According to Oates, “Connie wished her mother was dead” (324). Connie enjoys going out with her friends and going to a drive-in restaurant where the older kids hang out. Connie is innocent, but thinks about love and sex. She is desperate to appeal to boys and succeeds at it when a boy with shaggy black hair says to her, “Gonna get you, baby” (325). Her encounter with this boy will change her life forever, because he is the antagonist that influences Connie’s loss of innocence. On a Sunday afternoon, the boy, Arnold Friend, visits Connie and asks her to come for a ride, which she declines. But, Arnold Friend won’t take “no” for an answer and threatens to go in the house. For example when Connie says she will call the cops, Arnold says “Soon as you touch the phone I don’t need to keep my promise and come inside”
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
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.
During the teenage years they no longer want to be labeled the “child; matter of fact, they have a strong desire to rebel against the family norms and move quickly into adulthood. This transition and want for freedom can be a very powerful and frightening thing as there are evils in this world that cannot be explained. Most parents try to understand and give their teens certain freedoms, but at what expense? Joyce Oates gives us a chilly story about a teenager that wanted and craved this freedom of adulthood called “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”. This is a haunting story of a young girl by the name of Connie who gives us a glimpse of teenager transitioning from childhood with the need for freedom and the consequences of her actions. Connie is described as a very attractive girl who did not like her role in the family unit. She was the daughter who could not compare to her older sister and she felt her Mom showed favoritism towards her sister. Connie is your average teen who loves music, going out with friends, and she likes the attention she receives from boys. During this time, Connie is also growing into her sexuality and is obsessing with her looks as she wants and likes to be noticed by the opposite sex. Her sexual persona and need to be free will be what is fatal to her character’s life and well-being.
Where Are You Going, Where have you been? is a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates. The 75 year old American author and professor at Princeton University, introduce the story of 15 year old Connie who is rebelling against her mother’s whishes. A very arrogant and selfish girl that in her world the only thing that matters is how many heads she can turn when walking into a room. Through the story life gives her a test, to confront Arnold Friend, the antagonist of the story; who possesses a nefarious power beyond her own experience.
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
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
In addition, a teenager’s feelings of self worth are dependent upon the approval of others. Connie displays this as she practices “…checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right” (208). And of course there is also the explosion of hormones and corresponding sexual urges and fantasies. Oates makes all of these characteristics clear in her descriptions of Connie’s actions, thoughts and feelings.