In the beginning of the story , Oates says,” she had a habit
In the beginning of the story , Oates says,” she had a habit
One story from the short story unit that depicts impossibilities is “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been.” Connie’s vanity is not abnormal; many teenagers who are her age and attractive act the same way. The impossibility of the story appears in the form of Arnold Friend. Whether he is Satan, a serial killer, Jesus, Bob Dylan, or none of the above, his presence seems odd. Arnold Friend seems to know too much about Connie’s life to simply be a stalker. He know that the rest of Connie’s family is at her aunt’s house. Arnold says while “squinting as if he were staring all the way to town and over to Aunt Tillie’s backyard,” that her family is sitting around and “right now they’re -- uh -- they’re drinking” (Oates 413). He also claims to be…
When I finished reading the story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? I couldn't believe the ending. The main character Connie is your average teenage girl, however, she is a little more conceited than others. In the story, the author describes that the setting is in the summer and that's why she is going out with her friends almost every other day. The author also gives a hint by foreshadowing the line "Gonna get you, baby," which shows what's going to happen in the near future. I think the theme of this story is that when Connie goes out with her friends, she is going through adulthood. For example, at the end of the story when she opens the door to go outside with Arnold, she is leaving her childhood and making a jump straight into…
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is the suspenseful tale of fifteen year old Connie and her situation with a strange man. Connie, who usually enjoys the attention of the older boys, sees the man randomly when she is on a date. Some time later, the man shows up to Connie’s house and asks her if she wants to go for a ride with him and his friend. The man introduces himself as Arnold Friend, claiming to be eighteen years old. Connie soon begins to realize the two men look much older than eighteen, and she becomes frightened. Arnold begins revealing an uncomfortable amount of information he knows about Connie, which surprises her. When Connie threatens to call the police, Arnold assures her that he will not come in the house unless she picks up the phone. Connie picks up the phone at one point, but puts it back after she cries into it and Arnold instructs her to be a “good girl.” A feeling of emptiness takes over Connie after she finishes sobbing, and she finds herself eventually being lured out of her house by Arnold.…
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Response The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates was very interesting and appealing. It captures the reader’s attention from the beginning until the end. The main character, Connie, faces many challenges, one of which was temptation.…
“Where are you going, where have you been?” by Joyce Carol Oates represents emotional abuse in relationships and how easy it is to manipulate young minds.…
“Where are you going, Where have you been” is a famous story that was written by Joyce Carol Oates. In this story, Connie is fifteen years old girl and the main character. She seems to have always lived in her sister’s shadow, June, who was apparently better all-around. Connie seems to be the more attractive of the two due to which she felt that her attractive personality would succumb to pleasure in the arms of a random boy. One day, she decided to stay home as opposed to going to a barbecue with her family. At that time, Arnold Friend, the antagonist in Oates’ story drives up to Connie’s house. Connie is a character that represents the nature of epiphany in literature. Through Connie, we learn how a character can have a highly significant impact on an important work of literature and the person reading the story. Connie’s naïve understanding of the world and her immaturity led to her downfall in “Where are you Going, Where Have You Been?”…
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates. This popular short story made its debut in 1966. Dependent upon the interpreter, this short story may seem to be based upon many different themes, although my goal is to focus on analyzing the author’s use of stylistic devices such as a recognizable setting, and symbolism that Oates has effectively implemented in this story to convey the most important theme, which is maturity and coming of age. Oates uses many symbolic devices such as; words/thoughts, relationships amongst characters, and even objects to effectively symbolize Connie’s coming of age adventure.…
In Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Arnold Friend, a conniving antagonist, charms a naive teenager named Connie into believing he will rescue her from her inattentive family. However, at the story’s climax, Connie fears for her life yet cannot resist Arnold’s temptations. Although details of Friend’s appearance, speech, and actions should warn Connie of his evil intentions, through Oates’s portrayal of Friend as a devil-figure, Connie is easily “conned” foreshadowing her deadly fall. Many times throughout the story, Arnold reveals supernatural qualities that he possesses, foreshadowing the spell that Connie is put under and cannot break.…
Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is the haunting saga of a fifteen year old girl’s moral struggles that has resonated with readers since the story’s initial publication. Arnold Friend is a mystery of a character; his origins and nature have been debated time and time again. The real answer is that there is no real answer, and Arnold Friend is a character with a nature entirely up to the individual interpretation of any one reader. It can certainly be agreed that Arnold’s intentions for Connie, his would-be victim, are not good. Arnold promises to show Connie the meaning of love, but he makes little effort to hide his vicious nature.…
Impulsive behavior is common in our modern society. That impulsive behavior is controlled by a person’s id. Lots of people let their id control all of their decision making. This can eventually lead to a person’s inner darkness to be revealed. This concept is exemplified in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”. In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie’s impulsive behavior along with the symbolism behind Arnold Friend in order to express how her uncontrollable id eventually caused her downfall.…
This is a horrifying and haunting story that shows a girl who resulted in an awful situation. She rejects the role of being a daughter, sister, and a nice girl to refine her sexual personality. She has an obsession with her looks, loves to hang out with her friends and flirts with boys older than her. This award directly goes to Connie which is the main character of the book called, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol. Connie is a very attractive, inconsistent, and disobedient person.…
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates is a short story that brings many girl’s nightmares to life. The story is one about a young, naïve girl named Connie, and her deranged abductor, Arnold Friend. Oates uses the setting in Connie’s life to create a very realistic situation. Oates also uses descriptive language to create vivid images of the setting, charters, and the emotions Connie feels. By analyzing Connie’s home setting and the descriptive language Oates uses, we will be able to further understand how Connie’s thoughts and actions were effected by her setting.…
Joyce Carol Oates captured more than just the reader when she wrote the story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been.” Oates recreates an event that took place in the mid-1960s, where a grown man, who had shaggy black hair and a boyish charm, would lure teenage girls into his car, rape and murder them, and then bury their bodies in the desert. The fate of the main character in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” lies between Oates’s wavering suspense. From the beginning Oates shows the reader that the story is a flashback. “Her name was Connie.”…
The short story “Where are you going, Where have you been?,” by Joyce Carol Oates, is a tale about a teenage girl making the journey from her known world into something she has never experienced before. The main character lives the normal teenage life listening to the latest music and going out with her friends to the mall. “They must have been familiar sights, walking around the shopping plaza in their shorts and flat ballerina slippers that always scuffed the sidewalk” (753). One night with her friends changes her life forever. Someone that notices her at the restaurant would eventually become the person that makes her leave everything she knows and enter a world she has never seen before as “she watched herself push the door slowly open as if she were back safe somewhere in the other doorway” (764).…
“Writers provide glimpses of other worlds giving readers opportunities to reflect on their own world”. To what extended do you agree.…