adulthood is frustrating and confusing‚ and in most adolescents‚ is filled with apprehension and anxiety. For the protagonist Connie‚ this distress is expressed in her dreamlike encounter with Arnold Friend. In the short story “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?‚” Joyce Carol Oates used the interaction between her two main character‚ to reveal the internal fear and conflict of a fifteen year old girl maturing into a young woman. Oates chooses narrate her story in the third person giving
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"Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?" Music is one of the symbols mentioned in this story. The author mentions the music played in everywhere in the story. The author says that "The Music was always in the background". The music comes from restaurants‚ homes and cars. Music symbolizes the feeling and the emotions of the characters. For example‚ music for Connie is a pattern for romantic relationship. When she is happy‚ she hears music in everywhere. On the other hand‚ when she is sad‚ she
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this character‚ Connie‚ in “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates‚ is depicted as a self-centered‚ condescending‚ insecure fifteen year old girl growing into a woman. Connie comes off as a troubled young girl who consistently uses her sexuality for attention but at the same time is afraid of intimacy. This is said be due to her fractured relationships with her family; her frequent excursions with older boys that appeared to not have any interest after the first encounter
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The Devil’s Favorite Sin: Vanity In "Where are You Going‚ Where Have you Been?" Joyce Carol Oates uses an allegorical figure of evil to illustrate the theme of temptation. Oates alludes to hell through the character Arnold Friend‚ as the devil‚ and his victim Connie‚ who invites him in by committing one of the devil’s favorites sins: vanity. The narrator implies that Arnold Friend is Satan by giving certain clues that the reader can easily deduce. The name that Oates gives to the character
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"Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?" By Joyce Carol Oates A short story titled "Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?" tells a tale of an adolescent girl who suffers consequences of growing up in the unsupportive environment and the society preoccupied by the media. It is considered to be the most famous work of Joyce Carol Oates‚ an American writer‚ the winner of many significant literary awards and a two- time candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The story was first
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Language of Terror When a person is put in an incredibly horrifying situation where the outcome is unpredictable many physical and emotional changes take place. Joyce Carol Oates’s story "Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?" places Connie‚ a typical teenager‚ in this situation. Throughout the story‚ occasionally using religious undertones‚ Connie’s language of a typical teenager gradually changes‚ from calm and somewhat curious to nervous and terrified. Early in the story on a
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Matt Merritt Professor Smith English 102 13 September 2012 Arnold Friend’s Identity in Joyce’s “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
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Connie is a young fifteen year old who cares about her sexual drive that men have toward her. “The 1960s unleashed the so called sexual revolution. It seemed more a source of comic relief and tragic nostalgic recirculation than political inspiration…” This revolution consisted of women demanding their own rights so they could become more and more independent. There were significant shifts in social attitudes‚ behaviors‚ and institutional regulations at the beginning of the 60’s and also lasted through
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INTRODUCTION: “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol‚ showcases the inevitable effects of youthful exuberance in a teenage girl. The story is a compelling tale which unveils the vulnerability of Connie‚ a young teenage girl who could barely substantiate fantasy from reality. She prides herself as a pretty girl who understands the basic principles of life. Her encounter with Arnold Friend reveals her as someone who lacks the mental ability to make meaningful decisions and accurate
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In Joyce Carol Oates’ “‘Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?’ and Smooth Talk: Short Story into Film‚” Oates writes that Connie “An innocent young girl is seduced by way of her own vanity” and that “she confuses death for erotic romance” (419). Oates clearly defines her point when Connie first discovers Arnold Friend at the drive in diner. She catches Friend staring at her with a big smile and Connie “slit her eyes at him and turned away‚ but she couldn’t help looking back” (409). The fact
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