When the character, Arnold Friend, was introduced I did not expect that he would play the role of the enemy in the story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been.” When he arrives at Connie’s home, I began to question my hypothesis. Similarly, Connie’s view of the mysterious man is reformed as Arnold’s true nature is revealed. The realization begins when he discloses all the information he knows about Connie and the whereabouts of her family. This is when I, the reader, and the character begin to suspect that Arnold is not a respectable guy. She then notices his eerily pale skin, aged appearance, unsettling remarks, and seemingly stuffed shoes. These suspicions were confirmed once he spoke of his intentions.…
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?” by Joyce Carol Oates represents emotional abuse in relationships and how easy it is to manipulate young minds.…
Throughout "Where You Are Going, Where Have You Been?" Connie is infatuated with her own beauty. Connie "knew she was pretty and that was everything," (p. 499) to her. She, being so flawless in her own eyes, let her ego inflate and developed a snotty attitude toward others who were not as fortunate as her, " and right away someone leaned out a car window and invited them over, but it was just a boy from high school they didn't like. It made them feel good to be able to ignore him," (p. 500). Sammy is also very superficial and judgmental. Over half the story "A & P" is him describing the physical attributes of each of the three girls. One is described as a "chunky kid," another as the girl that, "never quite makes it," and the last as the "queen" whom he continues to illustrate for the following three pages. This is before he has even spoken to the "queen" and he appears to be completely infatuated by her beauty and is basing all of his devotion and deep rooted desire for this girl solely on her…
“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?”…
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.…
The protagonist of Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is a vain and stubborn girl named Connie. Fifteen years old, she believes beauty is everything and is nothing short of rebellious, maintaining two different personas: one for at home with her family and one for going out with her friends. One night out with her girl friends, Connie spots a young man watching her. He promises to come get her. The next day, the man comes to Connie’s house, keeping his word, and spends the remainder of the story convincing Connie to come along with him in his golden jalopy. The antagonist, Arnold Friend, is a literary representation of the devil, which can be surmised from his fake-looking appearance, his enticing demeanor, and other slight symbolism throughout the story.…
Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is about a 15 year old girl named Connie. Connie is the dark blond haired girl who catches all the attention and knows she looks good. The story is somewhat journalistic in the sense that there are few extreme stylistic flourishes or complicated sentence structures. Oates's spare style allows the images in the story to stand out in realistic coherence, in a way that makes one feel they have some unexplainable importance. “There’s your sister in a blue dress, huh?…
Joyce Carol Oates’s short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” focuses on the seemingly typical life of a teenage girl, Connie. The character irony is found in the fact that a teenage girl in the 1960’s struggled with the same issues teenagers battle with in present society. Connie, the main character, fights with her parents, does not want to be like her older sister, and thinks very highly of herself. As a teenage girl typically believes, Connie imagines she is the center of attention and everything revolves around her, including everyone else’s problems. But, in contrast to most teenage girls, she conceals her sexual personality while she is at home.…
In the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Oates, the audience explores the story of Connie, a normal teenage girl, who meets Arnold Friend, a seemingly harmless character at first, but we later come to find out that he has been stalking her and Arnold…
In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, by Joyce Carol Oates, the setting creates division between innocence and adulthood. In the story, the protagonist is a complicated and confrontational young woman named Connie. The narrator explains that “Everything about her had to sides to it” (Oates 1). Connie has two personas, the person she is at home and the rebellious and carefree young woman she is away from her home. Throughout the plot, the doorway symbolizes a threshold that Connie has to consider crossing into maturity.…
Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” conveys the theme of good vs. evil through Connie and Arnold by creating a sympathetic character and using symbolism, creating a fine line between the protagonist and the antagonist. In this short story, the antagonist Arnold Friend is a seducting creep that seduces young, innocent girls to “go on a date with him”. While he is at the protagonist, Connie’s, house, he is persuading Connie by telling her all about herself, including his “Sign. And he drew an X in the air, leaning toward [Connie]” (Oates 325). The “X” is implied as a symbol of evil and death. “X” is used as the antagonist’s sign to mark himself as evil and deadly. This conveys the theme of good vs. evil because…
“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.…