Appearance and Reality
The short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is one of the best stories of the author Joyce Carol Oates and is about the appearance and reality. The two main Characters Connie as self- obsessed teenager and Arnold Friend who shows his fake personality and demonstrate clearly how human disguises and shows fake side so that people can believe their appearance. By looking like an adult with her makeup, Arnold Friend, an old man, manipulates her and she compelled to do whatever he asks her in order to protect her family. Throughout this story, Joyce Carol Oates shows her audience how people prefer their appearance comparing to reality in three ways such as the appearance of most of the teenagers that have
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Oates also points out that “the pretty girl Connie, who was fifteen with a quick, nervous giggling habit of constantly checking her appearance in the mirrors always compare herself to other people by making sure she is all right.” The author portray her writing to the way society transformed Youngers’ appearance. Throughout her story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Oates describes in details nowadays teenagers …show more content…
As she reached her mature age, she try to enjoy her life by hunting for freedom. She explores her interest with open minds and ideas. Oates illustrates her thought by describing Connie as the one who always refused to do anything at home. Like other teenagers that strive for their independence, the narrator Oates reveals Connie as a typical example when she writes “Connie refuses to follow her parents to a barbecue in her aunt’s house”. We can notice that children need to be taught to be respectful in regards to their parent’s. The author Blue, in his show, emphasizes in the ideology when he says, “We often forget that children aren’t built-in sense of respect for others”. If children at lower ages, learn how to manipulate their parents to get their needs meet, they must learn as they are growing that these attitudes will not get them far because time will come when they will have to sustain themselves and if they are not ready for it, they will blame the society for not giving them the appropriate tools for success. It is parent’s responsibilities to educate theirs children’s, not to condone the teen’s erratic behavior but parents must be vigilant and stay connected with their children as Connie mothers did even though her daughter has never listen to
"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
As teenagers, we feel like we know all the complexities of life, and that the changes we experience during puberty are the ultimate variabilities of our lives, but the irony of this is that they still have so much more to learn. The story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” was written by Joyce Carol Oates, an influential, feminist author in the 1960s. The story was inspired by the real-life serial killer, Charles Schmid, also known as the “Pied Piper of Tucson”, who like the antagonist in the story, Arnold Friend, preyed on young girls as his victims (Sharma 5). An important element that influenced the story is that it was written in the 1960's, a period known as the Second-Wave of feminism, this was a time when women across America began to break free from the patriarchal system and assert their rights as citizens outside of the home (The 1960s-70s American Feminist Movement: Breaking Down Barriers
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' "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.
In her famous short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Joyce Carol Oates shows the transition from childhood to adulthood through her character Connie. Each person experiences this transition in their own way and time. For some it is leaving home for the first time to go to college, for others it might be having to step up to a leadership position. No matter what, this transition affects everyone; it just happens to everyone differently. Oates describes Connie's unfortunate coming of age in a much more violent and unexpected way than the typical coming of age story for a fifteen year old girl.
In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, many elements of fiction are used to convey subject of themes represented throughout the story, such as disguises. Throughout the story the use of characterization, detail, and allusions represents the presence evil in the modern world. Oates used these elements to capture evil that illustrates the theme that ‘Looks can be deceiving’.
Ignorance and vanity can be good, in small amounts, but too much can lead to very unwelcome consequences. Connie, a teenage girl who can’t get enough of herself, learned this the hard way when a strange man by the name of Arnold Friend arrives at her house with the intent of taking her on a ‘date’. Instead of calling the police or locking herself in, like common sense would imagine, Connie uneasily greets Arnold from her door when he gets out of his car, instantly letting her vanity and ignorance get the best of her. Joyce Carol Oates shocks the reader with the twist ending in her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” in which after hearing Arnold’s threat towards her family, Connie hands herself over to Arnold allowing him
Joyce Carol Oates' short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" written in the late sixties, reveals several explanations of its plot. The story revolves around a young girl being seduced, kidnapped, raped and then killed. The story is purposely vague and that may lead to different interpretations. Teenage sex is one way to look at it while drug use or the eerie thought that something supernatural may be happening may be another. The story combines elements of what everyone may have experienced as an adolescent mixed with the unexpected dangers of vanity, drugs, music and trust at an early age. Ultimately, it is up to the reader to choose what the real meaning of this story is. At one point or another one has encountered, either through personal experience or through observation, a teenager who believes that the world is plotting against them. The angst of older siblings, peer pressure set upon them by their friends, the need for individualism, and the false pretense that at fifteen years of age, they are grown are all factors which affect the main character in this story.
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.
Joyce Carol Oates’s short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” clearly illustrates the loss of innocence adolescents experience as they seek maturity, represented by Connie's dangerous encounter with Arnold Friend. Connie symbolizes the many teens that seek independence from their family in pursuit of maturity. Connie’s great desire to grow up is apparent from the beginning of the story, as she experiments with her sexuality. However, it is clear that Connie is not interested in pursuing a relationship, but relishes the maturity she feels after being with the opposite sex. After following a boy to his car, she was “gleaming with a joy that had nothing to do with Eddie or even this place” (2). This suggests that Connie's exploits
In the short story “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?”, by Joyce Carol Oates, the use of the symbolism of Connie’s clothes, her fascination with her beauty, Arnold Friend’s car and Arnold Friend himself help to understand the story’s theme of evil and manipulation. The story, peppered with underlying tones of evil, finds Oates writing about 15-year-old Connie, the protagonist of the story, a pretty girl who is a little too into her own attractiveness, which eventually gets her into trouble with a man named Arnold Friend. The story is liberally doused with symbolism, from the way Connie dresses to the shoes on Arnold Friend’s feet. In “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” the reader can pick up on some of the symbols very easily, while others need deeper thought. The subtle hints of symbolism throughout the story create a riveting tale that draws the reader in. Connie finally succumbs to Arnold Friend at the end of the story, it then becomes obvious that he represents the devil and the symbolism of her clothing and Arnold’s car all tie together to create a better understanding of the story.
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.
The story “We Are You Going, Where have you been?” by Carol Oates centers on a fifteen year old adolescent girl. The protagonist in this story is Connie, a high school student going through the uncertainties and challenges of growing up. This is evident in Connie’s own self-analysis of her physical self, the nervousness, and anxiety that she exhibits as a teenager. Connie is also experience self-consciousness as she awkwardly looks at her reflection in the mirror, while comparing her face to others. Her mother who constantly scolds her echoes Connie’s self-consciousness, while her father is completely silent, practically nonexistent in her life. In addition, Connie compares herself to her elder, 24-year old sister, June. June may be plain and chunky but is steady, confident, often drawing praise from her mother. Connie teenage awkwardness is evident as she is always aware of the opinions of others, as seen in her interaction with her friends while out in town. Furthermore, Carol Oates is creating an image of the struggles, sexual innocence, challenges of being an adult, and the terror in young girls as they transition. This is evident in Connie who exhibits is shy around boys, blushes a lot when Eddie spoke to her, and could not confide in her friend or sister. Connie’s terror and uncertainty of dealing with the opposite sex is seen in the nervousness and inability to defend herself against Arnold Friend.
At first glance, Joyce Carol Oates, “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been” seems to be the story of a typical young girl, obsessed with boys, struggling with her mother for independence and exploring her sexual identity. However, the typical story of the growing pains of youth, it is not. It is not the story of a well-adjusted teenager fighting for self-identity but instead, the story of an insecure and vulnerable young woman who uses her looks to validate her self-worth. It is the story of a girl whose own mother, in her constant criticism, further diminishes her self-esteem. In the very first paragraph of the story, Oates describes Connie looking in the mirror as she does often, to confirm she is still beautiful and her mother observing and saying “Stop Gawking at yourself. Who are you? You think you’re so pretty?” (Oates 1). And while Oates continues to write: “she knew she was pretty and that was everything” it is clear, in her constant attempts to attract boys that Connie is seeking validation. She’s figured out that her looks are a weapon and that she can use them to control the people around her.