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Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Summary

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Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Summary
On a bright weekend morning a Girl was relaxing in her house listening to music when an unfamiliar car pulls into the driveway, the girl doesn't seem to think of any danger that might arise from the car. Any aware person would lock the door and have the phone ready to call the police but not this girl. This girl is easily lured into a trap and taken away from everything she loved. This girl is the protagonist, Connie, from Joyce Carol Oates short story “Where are you going, Where have you been.” Rather than heed the gut feeling most readers have at this moment in the story, Connie ignorantly emerges from her house and engages the stranger, Arnold Friend. As soon as she leaves the safety of her home, she has unknowingly surrendered to Arnold …show more content…
Through terrifying and manipulative dialogue, the reader watches Connie fall prey to Arnold. In the story’s shocking conclusion, Connie leaves with Arnold in a sacrificial effort to save her family. While the open-endedness of the story’s ending leaves room for interpretation, Oates’ characterization of Connie and Arnold heavily foreshadows the kidnapping itself.
The characterization of Connie not having a strong identity and having low self esteem is used to foreshadow that she will make bad choices and do things to please people. Connie would go to the mall with her friends and would act like the the fun girl to be around. When Connie was at home she was a completely different person. “Everything about her had two sides” (Oates 2). The author characterized Connie as not having a strong identity. Connie constantly wants to be recognized as
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