Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Character Analysis

Connie plays with the idea of adulthood, but at fifteen, she is still too young for her

A short story by Joyce Carol Oates called “Where are you going, where have you been?” reflects the writer’s point of view of the way society looked to women in the sixties. The story takes place in the 1960’s when almost everything reached a turning point at that time. It talks about a teenager who wanted boys’ attention, but she ended up leaving her family house with a stranger. Connie represented most teenage girls, and their destiny at that time. The story can be looked at from many different points of view such as feminist, social, psychological and historical (Purdue (OWL)). The time this story had taken place is what makes it important. The story was written when the feminist movement was established, and the American society

Joyce Carol Oates finds inspiration for her short story based on Charles Howard Schmid Jr, a serial killer who made his debut in 1960’s. Charles Schmid was a charming, older, bad boy who targeted young girls in Tucson, Arizona. The similarity can be seen in Joyce’s short story when Arnold Friend targets stunning, 15-year-old Connie. Manipulation as well as other factors lead Connie to make an irrational decision, which jeopardizes her life. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” aspects of belonging to neglectful family with an overachieving sister, an envious mother, and careless father particularly contribute in Connie’s kidnapping,

The character in the fictional book is what makes a great story and brings it to life to the reader’s eyes. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” by author Joyce Carol Oates, the fifteen-year-old protagonist Connie is an interesting character who seems to be obsessed with wanting to grow up so fast. However, Connie seems to act differently when she is at home and when she is away from it. When she is away she seems to be a tad sexual with her appearance and tries hard to prove she is maturing. In this story, Connie is a tragic hero, who teaches us that even a great quality can be our doom. A tragic hero is usually a character who has a flaw that leads to their downfall at the conclusion. This happens when she tries so hard to act mature and finds out that maturity was not what she expected. Next, the narration is a key factor to the story that makes it what it is. The third person limited narration has Connie’s point of view which indicates that she somewhat thinks she knows what other characters are thinking throughout the story, sometimes the point of view seems to shift,

Connie’s parents, who choose to isolate themselves from their daughter, tremendously impact Connie's development. Throughout Connie’s journey she is often isolated. A large part of this is due to Connie's relationship with her mother. Whenever Connie

In the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, 15-year-old Connie spends most of her time lounging around the house, hanging out with friends, and meeting boys. Connie can be described as someone who rebels against her family. She worries about her looks and appeal while looking to others for approval when she didn’t get it at home. She only knows about the love they sing about in her songs, and not the reality and truth about the world. She thinks nothing of it when a strange guy makes a threatening gesture to her in a parking lot, until one Sunday when he shows up at her house. He introduces himself as Arnold Friend and asks Connie to join him for a ride. During

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” written by Joyce Carol Oates is an unsettling and incredibly formidable story of a young woman’s loss of innocence during a time of social change and turbulent times. The story’s protagonist is Connie, a self-absorbed, yet beautiful fifteen year old girl, who not only is at odds with her family but also the conservative values handed down by her family. She, unknowing to her parents, spends her evenings exploring her independence and individuality as well as by flirting and picking up boys at a local diner. One evening she catches the attention of a strange, creepy boy who drives a gold, dilapidated convertible. While alone at home one Sunday afternoon, this same creepy boy driving the gold

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates is a story about an older man tricking a younger beautiful, and youthful girl into getting into his car and ultimately leading to her “death”. Connie the main character is struggling from the beginning of the story with multiple things. One being she has problems with her parents, leading her to look for other ways to feel like she needs to force herself into a forced adulthood. The central idea is that life shouldn’t be rushed and that we need to be more open to our parents and listen to what they’re telling us. They might be trying to tell us something and we don’t even know it.

In the same vein, narcissism is another trait that characterizes Connie’s attitude. She obviously has the sophisticated mind-set of a young lady that she pretends to be although she is only an adolescent. It is easy to detect through the story that the protagonist Connie spends all her time acting and protecting her ego. So many passages illustrate that point of view. Connie is a two faced adolescent. She presents to the exterior world the image of a modest and well behaved girl whereas she has in her the hidden quality of sexual flirtation. To describe Connie, Oates mentions, ‘’Connie had long dark hair that drew anyone’s eye to it, and she wore part of it pulled up on her head and puffed out and the rest of it she left fall down her back. She wore a pull-over jersey blouse that looked one way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home’’

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.

She lives in her own world with a double-life; at home, she is Connie the child while everywhere else, she is Connie the young adult.

She attempts to reach for the telephone but failed to call the police. Arnold then assured her that he won’t come inside the house unless she touches the phone, which stopped Connie from trying to call the police. A little bit later, it seems that Arnold is at the door again, trying to convince Connie to go on a “ride” with him. At this point in the story, Connie's life has changed for good and her future does not look promising. Towards the ending, Connie is entering a place unknown to her.

"Where are you going where have you been?" is a short story about a young 15 year old girl who is trying to fit in with the rest of the world, and is very preoccupied with her appearance and living in this pop cultural fantasy. Connie is always ignoring her mother 's criticism about wanting her to be more like her older sister, June, who is no longer living a life of fantasy and has her act together.. One night, a boy named Eddie invites Connie to eat dinner with him, and Connie leaves her friend at the restaurant’s counter to go with him. As Connie and Eddie leave the restaurant, she sees a man in a gold convertible in the parking lot. He smiles at her and says, “Gonna get you, baby.”. Connie confused, walks away quickly confused not really knowing what actually happened, and Eddie notices nothing. They spend three hours of their night at dinner, and end up going to a nearby alley living in that fantasy of being that mature woman who knows what a man wants. One day, Connie 's parents and June leave her at home to go to a family barbeque leaving her all by herself. While she was at home alone, she was listening to her radio when out of nowhere she hears a car pull up to the front of her house. Startled, she looks out of the window to see

The short story written by ,Joyce Carol Oates called “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” takes place in the 50’s (possibly earlier/later) in a remote area where a young fifteen year old girl named connie learns she’s not as grown up as she thinks and needs the protection of her family when their safety is threatened.Connie is a wild teenager dressing the part,taking a liking to boys, and disobeying her parents.Her parents try to keep Connie tame using her older sister June as an example of what Connie should be.She has regular conflict with her mother constantly fighting because of her appearance and actions like lying about where she goes, and again her interest in boys trying to protect Connie from getting into trouble at a young age.Connie and her friends regularly go to the “mall” where they sneak across the street to a drive-in restaurant full of kids out of high-school over eighteen.Connie gets more than she bargains for when a man called Arnold Friend notices her and takes

such as " I toldja shut up, Ellie," and "your deaf, get a hearing aid,