Essay Woman on the Edge of Time

At home, she kept to herself. She was very ostracized by her mother, for her mother didn’t like the way Connie acted. She was considered a child—a lazy child stuck in her own thoughts. In Connie’s eyes, her mother never had anything good to say about Connie because her June was always doing something right. Whether it’d be paying bills or cleaning up around the house, June was the praised child. By being put down so much it pushed Connie to isolation, which led her to think more of herself and do nothing but daydream. I think playing the role of the child didn’t bother Connie so much because she was the youngest of everyone; however, what seems to bother her more is how her mother views her. What we later see is that when Connie is being threatened by Arnold, she screams for her mother over the undialed phone which shows how terrified Connie is faced with a real-life

It seems her looking at mirrors reassures her that she is still beautiful. Caldwell, recounts “In many senses Connie is right that (beauty) it is everything, but sees only the positive effects of her prettiness, not the dangers of attracting the wrong attention (par2). The only opinion she seemed to ignore is the opinion of her mother. " Oates depicts, Connie would raise her eyebrows at these familiar old complaints and look right through her mother, into shadowy vision at herself as she was right at that moment"(Par

Throughout the story Connie and her mother didn't get along very well. Connie felt neglected because her mom would always brag about her sister and never seemed to speak nicely about Connie. Connie actually wished her mother was dead and so was she so it could all be over ‘He didn't bother talking much to them, but around his bent head Connie's mother kept picking at her until Connie wished her mother was dead and she herself was dead and it was all over. "She makes me want to throw up sometimes," she complained to her friends. She had a high, breathless, amused voice that made everything she said sound a little forced, whether it was sincere or not.’ Despite their fall out, Connie still calls for her mom with her attempt to get away from this older man realizing that she is not a mature adult and still needs her mother by her side.

In Joyce Carol Oates “Where are you going, where have you been?” introduces us to Connie a self-absorbed, rebellious, and very naïve fifteen year old who is tossed into this world of sexuality, and adulthood she believes she knows all about. As Oates explains about Connie to us we get introduced to what influences her to act out and not care what others think and go about dealing with problems herself. Her mom is brought in as an over protective mother who wants to see her daughter succeed but doesn’t go about it the right way she uses the lines “stop gawking at yourself!” to tell us how Connie only cares about her looks and the way she dresses. She even brings in the involvement of her sister and her she lives under her shadow. June is twenty four and works as a secretary at her high school and she had to hear everything June did right while she was usually having trashy daydreams. “She was plain, chunky and steady” as oates described in her story, but Connie got to go out a lot since she hung with her girlfriends. While we learn more and more we believe Connie is going to end up in a ditch dead by the end of the story until she is put in a scenario where she transforms into a character where she has to use her brains to survive and get out of a bad situation.

Connie plays the role of a pretty girl, the sister June plays a secretary a job suitable for woman, and the mother is a mere housewife. Kennelly said “measures of femininity are measures of deference and subordination (letting a man drive, working at a low-status job), and they reflect a traditional view of what a woman should be (a heterosexual wife and a mother of many children)” (602-603) The position these women are in due to the masculine desire is reflected upon Connie's fate and the lives of the other woman in the story. Connie's father masculinity can come into perspective because he shows a traditional value of commodity towards the woman in his home. He is rarely home and shows no interest in talking to the women when he's actually there. Connie has no use for him because of his lack of authorization due to her not being old enough to be able to exchange with another man as kinship property. She is freely to be taken by any man that has use to her. Arnold Friend is one of these men, yet she is useful to him as a sexual object, and a disposable one it seems. Wood argues that” it is a position; it is a social location; it provides a perspective on the social life” (62). This is seen as an exchange of men, although in actuality an appropriation, the substitute of a lover who pays attention to her for a father who does not, and the women of the story

In the story, Connie is constantly seeking attention and approval in a number of ways. The first way in which Connie seeks attention and approval is through her physical appearance. Oates describes Connie as having a "nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people's faces to make sure her own was all right" (Oates). This narcissistic tendency, and the reaction that she received from others including her mother, fed into Connie's self-absorption. Despite her mother's chastisement, "Connie would raise her eyebrows at these familiar old complaints and look right through her mother, into a shadowy vision of herself as she was right at that moment: she knew she was pretty and that was everything" (Oates).

At the beginning of the story, Connie displays so much self-confidence and independence that she appears shallow. Connie “knew she was pretty” and thought that “that was everything;” she is only concerned with having the best appearance (323). In other words, Connie does not possess any true values, and she does not view anything else as containing much of any real importance. Not only does she portray shallow characteristics but she also frequently disobeys her parents, showing how her will of taking on a more lenient personality affects her

Both the movie and the story emphasize the dramatic separation of understanding between Connie and her mother. The apparent lack of depth in Connie and her father’s relationship dims in comparison to the almost-tangible hatred Connie seems to feel toward her mother, her mother “who had been pretty once too, but now her looks were gone, and that was why she was always after Connie” (Oates 148). Despite the anger she feels, however, it is her mother that Connie cries out to for help in both versions as she sees herself forced to give into Friend’s wishes in an attempt to spare her family the evil he hints will come

herself feel better; once she receives that she feels as though she is superior. Connie believes that

The way Connie behaves around other people and the way she dresses implies that attention seeking is one of her many significant characteristics. For instance, she would often "[check] other people's face to make sure

Psychoanalysis of “Where are you Going, Where Have you Been?” In Joyce Oates’ short story “Where are you Going, Where Have you Been?” the main character, Connie, has many issues. She is preoccupied with her appearance. Her mother is always criticising her for the things she does, saying things like “Stop Gawking at yourself.

Connie does all these things in an attempt to feel wanted. Her and her mother don’t have a good relationship which leads Connie to do the opposite of what her mother wants. Towards the end, Connie doesn’t want to go to her aunt’s barbecue, but her mother keeps on insisting that she goes. Connie stands strong and tells her mom she is not going which leads to her mother storming out of the room. These events show the rebellious acts of Connie that appear in both the short story and the film.

First, a reader must look at the Connie’s life and typical routines. “Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home…” this displays

First, when they get to the mall they change their normal clothes, for other that are more sensual and provocative. Connie behavior is indeed a clear declaration that she desperately craving for a sexual relationship. Connie used lipstick and intentionally pull down her blouse to expose her figure, to seduce the boys. She is taller than her friends Laura and Jill and she is even more beautiful than her friends. Likewise, her figure is similar to a siren and she is also sophisticated and charismatic. Connie mind is full of zany fantasies and dreams. Thus, her mother said to Connie, “I look into your eyes all I see is are trashy dreams”(Oates,

The author puts Connie out to be a bad kid but is she really? Yeah, Connie is not the most respectful or well-behaved kid but who is at the age of fifteen. The author shares some instances where Connie does not make the best decisions. The author shares, “She spent three hours with him, at the restaurant where they ate hamburgers and drank cokes…and then down an alley a mile or so away” (Oate’s. 109). The quote shows how Connie put herself in situations that a girl her age should have never been in. The author gives Connie the identity of not being confident in herself when she says, “Connie would raise her eyebrows at these familiar complaints and look right through her mother, into a shadowy vision of herself as she was right at that moment: she knew she was pretty and that was everything.”