Preview

Theme Of Where Are You Going Where Have You Been

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
169 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Theme Of Where Are You Going Where Have You Been
I believe the theme of the short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" is focused on the imagination versus the reality of the main character, Connie. Connie perceives herself as a functioning mature woman by the way she dresses, styles her hair, and her overall demeanor. Connie convinces herself that she is this mature person who has it all figured out but when she is approached by this character, Arnold, her insecurities begin to emerge. Once Arnold begins to harass Connie, she resorts to childlike behavior and her anxiety increases. The author represents Arnold as a boy but he is quite possibly a figment of Connie's imagination, he represented her actual fear of becoming an adult. "She watched herself push the door slowly open
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Summary Of The Story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'
    • 139 Words
    • 1 Page

    Summary Of The Story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'

    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…

    • 139 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Summary Of 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'
    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Summary Of 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'

    “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.…

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Summary
    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Summary

    The ambiguous resolutions of Where Are You Going Where Have You Been and The Night Rhonda Ferguson Was Killed is a coincidence that I found quite strange. In Where Are You Going Where Have You Been, the author doesn’t tell us what happens to Connie after Arnold Friend forces her to go with him. Does she die? Does she Live? Similarly, the Night Rhonda Ferguson Was Killed, the answer as to how Casandra will manage to overcome her friend’s sudden death and her life’s struggles remains to be open to interpretation.…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Summary Of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Summary Of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

    In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, the main character, Connie, is on the brink of adulthood and is experimenting with the sexual freedom that comes with it. On the weekends, Connie and her friend go to the mall or the diner and pursue older boys with which they will slip into dark alleys or cars. One night, when leaving the diner to go hang out with a boy, a man in a gold convertible catches Connie’s eye and says to her, “Gonna get you, baby”. Later in the story, Connie is tanning outside while her family is at a picnic. She hears a car pull up in her drive and she recognizes the gold convertible and the man driving it. This man, who she has never spoken to, immediately tries to get Connie to go for a ride. A little later he is…

    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Summary
    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Summary

    The two short stories “Where are you Going, Where Have You Been?” by Oates and “Castle Nowhere” by Woolson offer a strong basis for comparison and contrast in terms of canonical and non-canonical texts through characterization, genre/tone, setting, themes, and symbolism. While many of the obvious differences reside in concrete categories like setting, genre/tone, and characterization, there are alluring similarities in theme and symbolism that can allow the reader to conclude the canonization of “Where are you Going, Where Have You Been?” is due, in majority, purely to structural literary components.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Character analysis on Connie
    • 1034 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Character analysis on Connie

    “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?”…

    • 1034 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Arnold Friend In Joyce Carol Oates 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been'
    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Arnold Friend In Joyce Carol Oates '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.…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Summary
    • 1549 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Summary

    The short story, “Where Are You going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates explains how a young girl was struggling to find herself. Oates writes about a girl named Connie who was 16 years old and was lost in a world of fantasy. Connie had a split personality/image while at home and when she was out with her friends. Living in a world of fantasy, Connie would ignore her family by tuning them out and being distant. Connie would constantly be in front of the mirror admiring herself and seemed self-centered. Her mother always nagged at her and wanted her to be more like her sister June. June was the child that did everything right in her mother’s eyes; Connie was like the black sheep of the family. With these…

    • 1549 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Arnold Friend Maturity
    • 1365 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Arnold Friend Maturity

    Teenagers have always been very rebellious, independent, and felt the need to mature faster than they’re supposed to. These traits were very frequent in Connie from Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been. Connie continued to disobey her mother and go out in town to try and prove to herself that she is mature. She is a typical teenage girl trying to explore her sexuality through her looks, boys, and her friends. Since Connie was very rebellious and trying to become independent, she came to realize that she is not as grown up as she thought she was. She was acting very far out of her maturity level and she was brought into the reality of adulthood harshly when a horrifying event occurred with the first person that treated her as a mature…

    • 1365 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Literary Analysis
    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Literary Analysis

    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.…

    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Rhetorical Analysis
    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Rhetorical Analysis

    “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.…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Analysis Of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

    In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Connie is trying really hard to be an adult. Part of being an adult for her, involves having men be sexually attracted to her. However, there is just one problem. Connie is still a teenager, therefore she remains dependent on adults and her family.…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Theme Essay
    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Theme Essay

    Going through life, adapting to changes as you grow older and transforming from a young and reckless, naïve child into a working, responsible adult could be very fearful. Change itself is one of the biggest fears people encounter each and every day. Having to do things on their own, or figuring out if the decisions they make are right and if their experiences are going to help them or just hurt them more in the long run. In Connie's experience with Arnold Friend, whether it is real or a dream, the theme of "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been," is ultimately about fear. Likewise, "We didn’t," while its dominant tone is comic, the underlying theme is based on fear. Both stories ultimately deal with the fear of crossing through the passage…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
    • 194 Words
    • 1 Page

    Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

    Everyone experiences transitions in their lives. Sometimes these changes are insignificant, like a change in schools. Sometimes these can be major life changing events, like the passage from childhood to adulthood. In Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, the author uses a borderline crime story to investigate a loss of innocence and the unknown future.…

    • 194 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?
    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?

    In the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Joyce Oates portrays Connie as a beautiful young woman that is being coerced by a man, whom she doesn’t know, to come outside and go for a ride in his car. Who is this man that calls himself Arnold Friend? What does he represent? Looking at the things that Arnold Friend says and does will help to discover who he is.…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics