Short Story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'

In Oates's "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" it portrays the confusing nature of sexuality. A story set in the America of mid-1900s. A conflict of morals characterized this time, especially sexually related ones. There was a hot debate on the topic of sexuality among adolescents. The roles of women were being challenged and quickly changing. This story describes a psychosexual episode between a male predator and the protagonist, a female

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

In spite of the way that Connie tries to show the nearness of being a created woman who has learned about men, her involvement with Arnold reveals this is only an execution. She has made an engaging grown-up personality through her dress, hairstyle, and general direct and gets the thought she hopes for from young fellows. Regardless, Connie dumbfounds her ability to summon thought from young fellows with her longing to truly have

As the story progresses, it is Sunday morning and her family is getting ready to attend a family bar-b-queue. However, Connie insists on not attending and is left alone at home. As she is washing her hair, she hears an unfamiliar car driving up to her house and her heart begins to pound for she does not want the visitor to see her undone. When Arnold Friend, a man she has seen at the restaurant before, but has never spoken to, shows up on her doorstep, she is someone curious as to why he is visiting her. Throughout the scene, he is attempting to persuade Connie into taking a ride with him and his friend Ellie. The more he speaks to her, he reveals to her that he knows many things about her such as her friends, her name, and family and where they are currently at. As the scene develops, Connie no longer has interest in Arnold for she now is scared and is fearful of what his intentions are.

In the story, “Where are you Going, Where Have you Been?” the author, Joyce Carol Oates, uses literary devices to convey a message about the loss of innocence. To be more specific, Oates’s characterization of the protagonist, Connie, specifically shows the actions leading to her innocence being taken from her. The literary device of characterization gives a clear picture Oates thoughts at the time she wrote the story, expressing concern for young girls who are at risk of having their innocence taken from them.

The late 1950s was a time of cultural revolution which had a large influence on the American youth. “As the next decade drew near, issues such as civil rights, war, women 's rights, and the sexual revolution would deeply affect many American teenagers. The conservative family values and morals that predominated in the 1950s were just beginning to be challenged as the decade came to a close” (Moss and Wilson 3). As a result, many teenagers lost the conservative morals of the 1950s and became more independent. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie represents the result of this cultural revolution. Criticized by her mother for her promiscuity, Connie is an independent girl who often hangs out with her friends trying to attract boys. In doing so, she attracts a sexual predator named Arnold Friend who visits her at her home to try to get her to leave with him to presumably rape her. At the end of the story, Connie chooses to go with him. Connie gets into this dangerous situation because of a mistaken belief on her self-worth, the loss of morals by her and the adults in the story, and the influence of the 1960s popular music. Looking at “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” through the historical and feminist lenses, suggests that the story is really about how the misconceptions on self-worth and the diversion of 1960s society from

In the short story “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” both characters, Connie and Arnold, suffer from having dual identities. Connie is an individual who acts completely different outside her home, where she tries to portray an image of being sexually appealing. However, she is the complete opposite within her home, where she hides her sexuality and acts more like the adolescent she really is. Arnold is a mature man, something Connie is looking for in life and this intrigues her. Both characters have trouble with their dual identities, Connie’s leads her to being vulnerable to growing mature in an unpleasant manner by the force of Arnold, while Arnold’s unknown character proves to not be genuine, as Connie brings out his violent nature in her quest to be an independent adult.

In this essay, I argue that the main theme of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is internal conflict. The main character, Connie, struggles with multiple internal conflicts throughout the short story. Some of these internal conflicts include a search for independence, internal judgment, and fantasy versus reality.

The short story “Where are you going, where have you been,” which is written by Joyce Carol Oates, it tells about a fifteen-year-old beautiful girl Connie, who has annoyed by her family conflict because of her un-satisfy-mother and barely-talk-father, she pretended to be like matureness, so she spend her time to hang out with older boys to prove herself. Once Connie was captured attentions of a strange older man Arnold Friend, and was threatened by him in front of her house, Arnold ultimately peeled herself away from her illusions to the reality. By constructing and describing Connie’s psychological descriptions, Orates has shows the vivid picture of the process of a naïve girl from satisfy the illusion which made by herself, to the reality which she really had never seen before, and Connie’s issues with her family, her social life, or even the part that she could not escape from, come to make this fifteen-year-old beauty failed to be mature, force to experience what is the real reality, and force to admit her destiny. From the beginning of the story, the

There are some stories that capture the reader’s attention and which keep us riveted from the beginning to the ultimate line of the tale. ‘’Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?’’, a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates in 1966, is one of those. Inspired by the mythic song of the phenomenal singer Bob Dylan entitled ‘’It’s all over Now, Baby Blue,’’ the author describes the main character as a 15-year-old girl named ‘’ Connie’’, who is obsessed by her beauty and does not get along with her family. The heroine of the story ‘’Connie,’’ engages in an adolescent rebellion against her entourage by acting to appear older. This increases her vulnerability through the story and at the end

In the short fiction Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? tells a story about a young 15-year-old girl named, Connie. Connie spends her time meeting boys, lounging around the house and going out with her friends. One night an unusual man makes a threatening gesture to her in the parking lot of a local drive-in restaurant. Until, one day the unusual man pulls up in her driveway in a gold colored car. The man introduces himself as Arnold Friend and asks Connie to join him for a ride. During their conversation, Connie is aware that Arnold is dangerous; his language becomes more sexual and violent, and he warns her that he will hurt her family if she calls the police. In the end, she leaves the house and joins Arnold. Connie is stuck between the lines of her sexual daydreams and reality up until she is entangled among by Arnold Friend and his infatuating music playing in his car. Everything about her had two aspects to it, one when she was at home and one for anywhere but home.

The teenage rebellion, which most of people experience during the puberty, always worsens the relationship between parents and children. Written by Joyce Carol Oates, the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” describes the condition and consequence of a family whose child is rebellious. Through the characterization, plot, and dialogue, Oates successfully exhibits the thesis that Connie’s bad ending is the consequence of her parents’ attitude and actions.

In Joyce Carol Oate’s, “Where are you going, Where have you been”, a young teen by the name of Connie is in a stage of what appears to be rebellion. Along with many other teens, Connie’s parent’s oblivion to what she does outside of the house allows it to continue and worsen. Since Connie not being held accountable for her actions, it leads her down paths of destruction. Are Connie’s bad decisions really her fault? Typically, teens do not rebel for fun but there is a deeper meaning behind the actions. In this story, Connie goes out and rebels in search of better things than what she has at home.

Connie’s identity is shown at the end of the story, but who she was at the beginning of the story differs to who she became at the end of the story. To start, Connie was a fifteen year old girl who was beautiful and adventuress, but failed to acknowledge and grasp the idea of a real family. Connie’s family or her mother is not the exact loving and caring mother some people have experienced. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, Connie sated “Her mother, who noticed everything and knew everything and who hadn 't

The teenage rebellion, which most of people experience during the puberty, always worsens the relationship between parents and children. Written by Joyce Carol Oates, the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” describes the condition and consequence of a family whose child is rebellious. Through the characterization, plot, and dialogue, Oates successfully exhibits the thesis that Connie’s bad ending is the consequence of her parents’ attitude and actions.