There has been ample ink spilt on the degree to which Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is allegorical, but more specifically, allegorical division between realistic and existentialist. It is, however, difficult to fully distinguish the two as separate beings entirely considering that they function in unity throughout. It is, then, the purpose of this analysis to bridge the two seemingly disparate theories and understand how their workings in the short story collectively exist, examined through the criticism of Urbanski. Urbanski deals primarily in existential allegory. The thesis states that “many critics have classified Oates's work as realistic or naturalistic… few have acknowledged the allegorical nature of …show more content…
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
Throughout the course of this novel, Ishmael Beah keeps the readers on the edge of their seat by incorporating interchanging tones. At the beginning of the novel, the tone can be depicted as naïve, for Beah was unaware to what was actually occurring with the rebels. Eventually, the tone shifts to being very cynical and dark when he depicts the fighting he has endured both physically and mentally. However, the most game changing tone is towards the end of the novel in chapters nineteen and twenty. His tone can be understood as independent or prevailing. It can be portrayed as independent because Beah learns how to survive on his own and to take care of himself. At the same time, it is perceived as prevailing and uplifting because Beah was able to demonstrate that there is hope. Later in the novel, Beah travels to
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.
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.
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.
It is said that our eyes are the windows to our soul, so when Connie is unable to see Arnold’s eyes—essentially she’s unable to see into his soul. Connie can’t make a worthy judgement call on whether she thinks he has good intentions towards her, or he might be hiding something behind those mirrored glasses. It is a perfect disguise for Arnold to hide his true intentions behind (Easterly). The glasses in this particular instance symbolize the evil that resides deep inside Arnold, the kind of evil that can only be described as the devil
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.
Pollan’s article provides a solid base to the conversation, defining what to do in order to eat healthy. Holding this concept of eating healthy, Joe Pinsker in “Why So Many Rich Kids Come to Enjoy the Taste of Healthier Foods” enters into the conversation and questions the connection of difference in families’ income and how healthy children eat (129-132). He argues that how much families earn largely affect how healthy children eat — income is one of the most important factors preventing people from eating healthy (129-132). In his article, Pinsker utilizes a study done by Caitlin Daniel to illustrate that level of income does affect children’s diet (130). In Daniel’s research, among 75 Boston-area parents, those rich families value children’s healthy diet more than food wasted when children refused to accept those healthier but
Oates is accused of "producing too much" (676). This story is no different. Her exposition is painstaking. She sets the scene by making the main character and protagonist, Connie, parallel to an average girl in the sixties. Oates' narrator introduces Connie using elements of description which puts emphasis on the vanity of the main character. Connie's mother is quickly introduced and is used by the narrator to reveal how much disdain her mother has for her vanity. The narrator uses the main character's mother to introduce her sister, June. One is led to believe that sibling rivalry is one of the many causes that lead to the demise o...
Urbanski, Marie Mitchell Olesen. "Existential Allegory: Joyce Carol Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'." Studies in Short Fiction 15.2 (1978): 200-203. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
Oates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”. Backpack Literature. An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy & Dana Gioia. 4th ed. New Jersey: Pearson, 2006. (323-336). Print.
the lack of knowing her true self lets Arnold Friend overpower her in the end. The words and letters on Arnold’s car symbolize warnings that Connie should have picked up on. Because Arnold symbolizes the devil, the evil inside of him gives him advantages to manipulate Connie into leaving her house, despite everything inside of Connie screaming at her not to go. The symbolisms in these objects or people are all deeply rooted to the theme of this short story, “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?”.
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.
Studying a university degree is one of the biggest achievements of many individuals around the world. But, according to Mark Edmunson, a diploma in America does not mean necessarily studying and working hard. Getting a diploma in the United States implies managing with external factors that go in the opposite direction with the real purpose of education. The welcome speech that most of us listen to when we started college, is the initial prank used by the author to state the American education system is not converging in a well-shaped society. Relating events in a sarcastic way is the tone that the author uses to explain many of his arguments. Mark Edmunson uses emotional appeals to deliver an essay to the people that have attended College any time in their life or those who have been involved with the American education system.
Jonathan Kozol revealed the early period’s situation of education in American schools in his article Savage Inequalities. It seems like during that period, the inequality existed everywhere and no one had the ability to change it; however, Kozol tried his best to turn around this situation and keep track of all he saw. In the article, he used rhetorical strategies effectively to describe what he saw in that situation, such as pathos, logos and ethos.
...elements beyond he dreamlike surreal fairy settings and tone. Characters, themes and events in each fairytale parallel those found in Oates’s short story. Young innocent protagonists and seductive evil forces. The lure of evil disguised as salvation and independence leading to a forced awakening. The themes of evil vs. purity, rites of passage, the constant possibility of danger and the deep bonds of family. In the final analysis, when Connie chooses to leave with the evil villain Arthur Friend we can’t help to feel if she had simply practiced the mantra, Don’t Talk to Strangers she would not be facing violence and death.