In the short story “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates‚ Connie’s house illustrates irony because of the changes that occur in Connie’s behavior towards her mom throughout the story. At the beginning of the story‚ Connie epitomizes a normal teenager’s feeling towards her parents‚ especially feelings towards her mother when at home. “Connie’s mother kept picking at her until Connie wished her mother was dead and she herself was dead and it was all over‚” (492). With
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Be Careful What You Wish For Anything that is too much is harmful. The main character in "Where are you going‚ Where have you been?" Connie‚ faces the end conclusion of her shallow ways when she is approached by evil in human form. She had an excess of self-confidence. This self-confidence leads to a false sense of security and bad reputation. Connie also had a large amount of bad choices. She would do her best to impress boys with her looks; eventually she impressed the wrong guy. This
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short story name “Where are you going. Where have you been?” by Joyce Carol Oates. The similarities between the song and the story is that they both share a common theme of being forced or getting into something mysterious. Through the short story Arnold Friend tried to influence Connie into escaping her father’s house and going away with him. It was almost as if Connie was forced by Arnold because of his words. One thing Arnold said was “be nice to me‚ be sweet like you can because what else is
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Parent-Child relationship in Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been‚ written by Joyce Carol Oates and in In the Gloaming‚ written by Alice Elliott Dark are two different demonstrations of relationships that parents and children have with one another. In Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been the Parent-Child Relationship was strained and distant in In the Gloaming‚ the Parent-Child Relationship was close and open. In Where Have You Been‚ Where Are You Going? Connie and her mother were always
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The Fantasy of Life In the novels The Great Gatsby and "Where Are You Going and Where Have You Been" authors F. Scott Fitzgerald and Joyce Carol Oates show a theme of fantasy versus reality to convey a deeper meaning within their novels. They express this theme using characters such as Gatsby‚ Connie‚ Daisy and Arnold Friend within the stories. Through these characters lives and experiences the theme is created connecting both stories. The theme of fantasy versus reality is used to a great extent
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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
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Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates is about a teen named Connie who is insecure and is looking for an escape from her household. The main antagonist‚ Arnold Friends main objective is to lure Connie out and take her on a so called “date”. He does this by trying to make small talk. Some of the things said can be very creepy as he seems to have psychic abilities and know everything. One of the more irrelevant things said was‚ “Leave me alone‚” Connie whispered. “Hey‚ you know
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In Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been Joyce Carol Oates uses compelling themes to convey real life issues to the readers. She also exploits many references to well know fairytales through symbols and motifs. This short story shares the theme of good versus evil to the fairytales Cinderella‚ Rapunzel and Snow White. The theme of evil is first expressed through Connie’s and Cinderella’s afflictions with their sisters that shape the essence of sibling rivalry. Like Cinderella‚ Connie’s sister
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The short story ”Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been” explores feminist ideals about oppressive men who take advantage of women. The story tells about a young girl named Connie who acts and dresses as though she is a mature young woman‚ but she shows her true age of fifteen when an older man‚ Arthur Friend‚ takes advantage of her using fear and threats of violence against her family. The story calls into question whether or not Connie is truly and independent woman‚ but one can clearly see
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The story “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates shows the reader the self-created illusion that the main character Connie has created in order to better understand herself. Connie’s reality is altered as she has this dream that has manifested due to her desire for attention from others. Throughout the story there are many occurrences that support the idea that the entire story is a dream that was made up by Connie’s subconscious. Throughout the story‚ Arnold mentions many
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