Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Literary Criticism

Oates emphases that Connie is in her adolescence, who is trying to transition into thinking like an adult. Connie, who is obsessed with her appearance, is constantly “craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right”(Oates 1). She is starting to

The biggest cause for Connie’s outgoingness and rebellion is her mother’s attitude towards her. In the movie and short story Connie’s mom was rude to her and constantly comparing her to June. Connie’s mother’s tone was filled with annoyance and aggravation whenever she talked to Connie. There was nothing positive that came out of her mom’s mouth. The first thing the mom said was “Stop gawking at yourself, who are you? You think you’re so pretty?” (Oates 693)

There is the search of independence where we witness the conflict between Connie and her mother. Connie's act of making herself beautiful and attractive sexually also shows her search for independence. She is also realistically dependant on the adults in her life, her parents take care of her and drive her places, like a normal parent would. However, in the story Connie is in a constant fight with her her mother and sister, this is the only type of life she is aware of. She does make several attempts to explore a new life, like changing her appearance, and attracting boys at the diner. Until Arnold Friend arrives her experiences have always been safe. After she willingly let herself into an intimate situation with Eddie, she got returned home safely. However, what comes out is that Connie's search for independence has a poor outcome.

In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates we the readers see the conflict of a teenage, conceited, superficial girl when faced with a situation that brings her to an entire new understanding of life. We see Connie in the beginning without a care in the world other than looking good for the next guy she will hook up with. Oates explains, “She was fifteen and she had a quick, nervous giggling habit or craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right” (Oates Web). I really enjoy Oates’s expression of how strong Connie’s arrogance is, especially because this totally changes by the end of the story. By the end of the story Connie is way less selfish and more aware

Arnold’s failure to listen to his superego explains his rationalization to take, rape, and kill Connie. Arnold Friend is an older, conniving man who convinces Connie to leave her house with him or face the consequences. Marilyn C. Wesley of, “The Transgressive other in Joyce Carol Oates’s Recent Fiction” describes Arnold as “the probable rapist[,] … killer [and] … depraved lunatic,” which proves that Arnold contains the characteristics of an individual who lacks the basic discipline of a superego to control his urges of socially unacceptable behaviors. Even after Connie rejects Arnold’s attempts to seduce her into leaving, he continues to not listen to his superego and continues to harass her and begins to even threaten Connie in order to fulfill the desires of his id. He threatens Connie and says, “You don’t want your people in any trouble, do you?” which shows he has repressed his superego so much that he is willing to go to extreme extents to fulfill his id (Oates 561). He later states, “Yes, I’m your lover. You don’t know what that is but you will” which also shows his aggressive, relentlessness behavior (Oates 558). Arnold’s superego is so repressed, that he is willing to do anything to satisfy his desires no matter how wrong and socially unacceptable they are. Psychoanalytic theory is applicable to Arnold’s character in “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?” in

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

She thought that her mother liked her more, just because she was prettier, but that wasn’t true. Being pretty gets to her head, not knowing of what the consequences could be with the way she acted and how she looked when she was in public. Connie did show her love for her family one day. She didn’t know the consequences of being pretty and acting that way until she saw Arnold Friend at the end. It is like if he was the walking clouds and thunder that followed her ever since he saw her.

Connie is a young, immature character, who is incredibly self-conscious about her looks, and how people view her. She has a habit of constantly looking at herself in the mirror, and is often scolded at by her mother. Her mother compares Connie to her older sister, June, who receives all the praise. Her mother favors June because she is grown up and makes contributions to the home, as Connie is just in her own realm, usually daydreaming. This creates resentment towards her mother, and Connie wishes that her mother was dead. This most likely fuels her to gain the independence that she is looking for and become the mature adult she acts like outside the home. Connie had completely different

In the beginning of the story, the way Oates describes Connie’s behaviors help construct Connie’s state of mind as a doubtful and vulnerable young girl. The author perfectly capture the essences of Connie’s character by illustrates how Connie has, “a quick, nervous giggling habit of craning neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right,”

The characterizations of Connie’s family members have great effects on Connie. And onnie’s mother’s characterization is the main motivator for Connie’s rebellion. She always compares Connie with June, who is the “ideal daughter” in her eyes, and blames Connie for some little things, such as improper dressing and not having a tidy room. Oates suggests that the reason for Connie’s mother prohibiting Connie to dress up like an adult is that “ Her mother had been pretty once too” (Oates 1), but now “her looks were gone and that was why she always after Connie” (Oates 1). Therefore, she is jealous about Connie’s beauty and feels uncomfortable when seeing Connie wear beautiful outfits. Meanwhile, she likes June so much because June is obedient and plain, which makes her feel that she is dominant in the relationship. In the short story, Connie’s father is not given much description by the author, but his characterization has an effect on Connie as well. The irresponsible father spends little time with family and seldom has conversations to his daughters. When hearing his wife’s complain about Connie, he just bends his head with saying nothing, which makes Connie feels ignored and lonely. Urbanski states that “The father, who spent most of his time at work, is weak” (Urbanski 200) to reveals the father is not an active figure in his daughter’s life. Therefore, lacking of the company and communication of family members, Connie becomes upset. In addition, Connie’s sister June, who has the opposite characterization, is also one of the reasons for Connie’s rebellion. In Connie’s eyes, June is a

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

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.”

“Nothing about Arnold Friend is genuine, except his violent intentions and his skill at psychological and physical intimidation. By the story’s end, Connie understands that she is not the confident flirt she thought, but a powerless pawn in the hands of a dangerous individual.” (Cormier)

The characterizations of Connie’s family members have great effects on Connie. And Connie’s mother’s characterization is the main motivator for Connie’s rebellion. She always compares Connie with June, who is the “ideal daughter” in her eyes, and blames Connie for some little things, such as improper dressing and not having a tidy room. Oates suggests that the reason for Connie’s mother prohibiting Connie to dress up like an adult is that “ Her mother had been pretty once too” (Oates 1), but now “her looks were gone and that was why she always after Connie” (Oates 1). Therefore, she is jealous about Connie’s beauty and feels uncomfortable when seeing Connie wear beautiful outfits. Meanwhile, she likes June so much because June is obedient and plain, which makes her feel that she is dominant in the relationship. In the short story, Connie’s father is not given much description by the author, but

Connie is very stuck up and is always worried about who’s looking at her and what she’s wearing and if her hair looks good, etc. In addition, she has a strange and uncomfortable relationship with