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Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

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In her story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates constructed multiple themes like the seek for independence and fantasy vs. reality. What inspired Oates to write this story was the murder of three women in Tucson, Arizona between the times of 1964-66. The man who killed them went by the name Charles Schmid, who was given the nickname The Pied Piper of Tucson. This provoked Oates to help raise awareness, to be aware of your surroundings and don’t trust the unknown. Oates's goal was for Connie to symbolize weakness in a violent and dangerous world. The story begins with Oates describing the main character Connie, as a beautiful young fifteen-year-old girl who had a, “nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people’s …show more content…

Connie typically attracts older boys, and one day she and her friend Betty went to a drive-thru restaurant when Connie met a boy named Eddie. Eddie and Connie spend some time together and then return to their friend Betty. Connie hid the fact she hung out with Eddie from her mom, trying to act responsible and mature. My reaction to this piece wasn’t too crazy. I think it is very often we come across girls who are attracted to older boys and want to hang out with them to seem “cool”. To the boys, the girls give off vibes of vulnerability and are unknowingly exposed. If I were Connie, I wouldn’t hide hanging out with a boy from my parents simply because something bad could happen and they wouldn’t know who I am with or where I am at. The next part of the story was set on a Sunday. Connie’s family was off to a barbeque and Connie refused to go, “she wasn’t interested, rolling her eyes to let her mother know just what she thought of it” (Oates 2206). So Connie stayed home that Sunday, inside because it was too hot out, listening to her favorite program on the

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