Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been - 1733 Words

Where there is desire, there is hope, despair, and struggle. Joyce Carol Oates illustrates animatedly the asphyxiated struggle of desire in her short story â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† The story narrates the life of a young girl, named Connie, and her fated and enigmatic confrontation with a strange man. Feeling trapped in her own home with her own family, Connie, a self-conscious and rebellious teenager, tries to figure out a way to identify herself with the world around her. Her desire of escaping the reality fuels her struggle to enter adulthood. Through the physical form of Arnold Friend, who embodies both the hope and the despair in Connie’s struggle, the author metaphorically portrays a vigorous and psychological pressure that Connie has to endure. The story is scripted to allude to the danger of identifying oneself through sexuality in young girls. To better understanding this cryptic story, it is important to follow the psychological processe s and conflict of Connie’s character, which help unveil the allegorical meaning of a young girl’s rite of passage through sex. 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, â€Å"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,†Show MoreRelatedWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?1021 Words   |  5 PagesWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been? By Joyce Carol Oates A short story titled Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? tells a tale of an adolescent girl who suffers consequences of growing up in the unsupportive environment and the society preoccupied by the media. It is considered to be the most famous work of Joyce Carol Oates, an American writer, the winner of many significant literary awards and a two- time candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The story was firstRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?1882 Words   |  8 PagesThrough its contrasting reality and dreamlike scenes, Oates’ â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† uses details from a true American horror story to convey a message about society, youth and a loss of innocence. Arizona native Charles Schmid murdered Alleen Rowe on May 31, 1964. Schmid was considered a serial killer and was subsequently arrested and convicted of the heinous crimes that he was accused of. The profile of Schmid as a short man who wore makeup , wigs and altered boots to makeRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Essay2193 Words   |  9 Pagesshort story â€Å"Where are you going, where have you been?† and Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find,† readers will dismiss the idea of the existence of any similarity in the stories of a fifteen year old girl and a grandmother. However, upon closer inspection, it is easy to appreciate how these two seemingly polar opposites are actually structured to invoke the same feelings in readers and to explore the same concepts. A close examination of â€Å"Where are you going, where have you been?† and â€Å"ARead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?1528 Words   |  7 PagesThe Cultural Revolution and Sexual Desires in Oates’s â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been† The late 1950s was a time of cultural revolution which had a large influence on the American youth. â€Å"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 andRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?989 Words   |  4 PagesArnold Friend, a main character founded in the short story, â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† by Joyce Carol Oates, is often a debated by many readers to be a demon, a crazed stalker and maniac, or in fact Lucifer himself. After reading the short story and analyzing the details of the characters, Arnold Friend really stands out and leaves many unanswered questions on what the author was intending to do with this particular character in identifying who he really is. After thoroughly analyzingRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?843 Words   |  4 PagesIn 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 theirRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?1946 Words   |  8 PagesIn the short story, â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† the author, Joyce Carol Oates, creates Connie, an average fifteen year old girl, who rebels against her parents and begins to discover her sexual appeal as she grows up. At times it seems that Connie wants to grow up too fast. All her attention goes to h er looks, music, and boys. Connie is a dynamic character who goes through an emotional rollercoaster when she meets the mysterious Arnold Friend. At first he seemed like just anotherRead MoreWhere Are You Going? Where Have You Been?1546 Words   |  7 PagesWhere Are You Going? Where Have You Been? In the short story, Where are you going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie flaunts her beauty to receive attention from the opposite sex and is lead to temptation. The antagonist Arnold Friend, who symbolizes the devil, shows how simple it is to take away your safe haven through sinister acts. Connie is split between how she acts and portrays herself at home, and how she acts whenever she is with her group of friends. Connie refuses toRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?723 Words   |  3 PagesPsycho, Demon, Dreams, Oh My! â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† by Joyce Carol Oates is a short story about a 15-year old girl named Connie that falls in the trap of Arnold Friend. There are many interpretations to this short story, and many arguments have fought back and forth to find out the true inside meaning to find out what the reason was for Joyce Carol Oates to write this story. There are hundreds of analyses for this story out there, but I am going to just be talking about three;Read MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?717 Words   |  3 PagesJoyce Carol Oates: Where are you going, Where have you been?† The story â€Å"Where are you going, Where have you been?† is about a fifteen year old girl Connie. Connie is like any other teenage girl acting more grown up that she really is. She is obsessed with her look and with boys. â€Å"She was fifteen and she had a quick nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors, or checking other people’s faces to make sure her won was all right†(323). Teenagers are into their appearance and