The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates is about a teenage girl named Connie who is in the mist of her adolescent rebellion. She wants to prove her maturity to others and herself. In the story, Oates describes that Connie always lets her mind flow freely in between her daydream. She even creates and keeps dreaming about her ideal male figure in her mind to make her happy and satisfied. Oates allows the reader to step into Connie’s “dream world” through the appearance of Arnold Friend. Throughout the story, there are many instances: the illogical time and settings, the similarity between Arnold and Connie and the unrealistic events show that the meeting between Connie and Arnold Friend is a dream. The dream is also a preparation for Connie before she steps onto the stage of being an adult. Connie’s dream begins when she refuses to go to her aunt’s house for barbecue party. She stays home, and under the warmness of the sun, she begins her day dreaming about love and the boy she has met the night before. In the beginning, the author writes “Connie sat with her eyes closed in the sun…” (Oates 12), which means that Connie falls asleep after her family left. Then right in the same paragraph, Oates also tells us that “when [Connie] opened her eyes she hardly knew where she was...She shook her head as if to get awake.” This line shows that Connie is at the start of her dream because the only time we don’t know a place is when we is
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" was written by Joyce Carol Oates and the poem “First Love: A Quiz " written by A.E Stalling both have a lot in common. The poem takes the ancient Greek myth of the rape of Persephone and reconstructs it, for today’s society. The short story takes place in 1960s Middle-America. Both demonstrate allegorical figure of evil to illustrate the theme of love and the loss of innocence.
This additional scene not included in Oates’s short story only helps to inform the reader early on of how Connie and her friends act which adds to the movie’s
In the beginning, Oates creates a false sense of security. She is at home and Connie seems safe, this is what makes what happens next unexpected. After this, a strange man rolls up to Connie's home, and Connie is only worried about how she looks, not her safety. This makes you wonder what is going to happen, and if their is a reason she is scared. Then, the pace of the story completely changes when Arnold Friend starts to approach Connie and say things that make her feel uneasy.
Such as, in the first quote “The place you came from ain’t there any more” (Oates 320). Meaning in reference to Connie, that she grew up in a family with both parents, and has an older sister June who she secretly looks up to, she is blessed to have friends that she loves to hang out with. She also has the warmth of her home that provides security and protection, which holds her childhood memories of her playing with her friends and neighbors. This is where she blossomed into a beautiful young girl with aspirations of pursuing what the future has in store for her. “and where you had in mind to go is cancelled out” (Oates 320).
Thinking she is too grown up to go to the cook out with her family, she decides to stay at home. While sunbathing, she falls into a dream and daze, thinking about the boy that she was with last night comparing it to song lyrics and film. Joyce said, “Connie had to shake her head as if to get awake” (341). She had adult thoughts and dreams that most fifteen year olds don’t have. She dreamed about boys so much that they took over her
Oates explains that “...her head [is] always filled with trashy daydreams”, which is Connie’s way of escaping to a different world (Oates 1). Connies daydreams help her leave the constant yelling of her mother and neglect from her family and escape to her perfect reality. With Arnold’s offer to leave her family behind, Connie is reluctant to say no because she wants this opportunity to escape her negligent family. Oates says “Connie [has] to hear [June being] praised all the time…” which makes her upset even though she is used to it (Oates 1). These situations make Connie a victim here because this offer is difficult for her to make considering her family life is not the best.
Arnold Friend was there to take Connie away; away from her childhood and home, which never quite felt like home until her fantasy world deteriorated and reality set it. The next moment is pivotal, this is when Connie forgets her hedonism and becomes something of much more substance. Before Connie studies Arnold Friend’s abnormal personality and erratic behavior she is fascinated by him and even worries that she is ill prepared for this
The story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates, is a one where the idea of how girl who struggles with wanting to be a mature woman, faces her demon full form. The protagonist of the story is Connie, a 15-year-old rebel girl, obsessed with her look; and through fault of her own, meets the antithesis of herself, the antagonist of the story, Arnold Friend. Connie seeks to be a mature adult and desires an emancipation from her family. Seeing herself as mature woman through the desires of her attraction by other boys and men, as well as her mother. Its this same desire which acts as the main fault for her character.
With the help of Arnold Friend and Ellie, Connie matures into an adult by understanding her “religion”, Connie dreams, and Arnold Friend being perceived as a devil. Connie’s “religion”
In the coming of age story “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates uses symbolism, conflict, and the third person to foreshadow fifteen-year-old Connie’s unfortunate, yet untimely fate. While one may think that the conflict stems from Connie’s promiscuity, it is clear to see her promiscuity is only a result to a much bigger conflict, her mother’s constant nagging and disapproval, alongside the lack of attention from her father. the author paints a vivid picture of what happens when a fifteen-year-old girl such as Connie goes elsewhere to find to find the love, attention, and approval that she lacks at home. All which is vital for her growth and wellbeing as a person.
Fantasy V.S. Reality In some cases an individual can perceive something as the complete opposite of what it truly is. People create the illusion or the fantasy on what they believe something to be.
Connie had a side hidden away from her family. When home she had a “childlike and bobbing walk”( Oates 1) but away from home her walk was “languid enough to make anyone think she was hearing music in her head”. The moral standards and self interpretation of Oates character Connie stems from how her parents treat
In this story, Oates describes Connie character as a pretty young girl with “long dark blond hair that drew anyone’s eye to it.” (86) Because Connie led two different lives, she would dress and look different at home, then she would with
In Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Connie is a fifteen-year-old girl, who does not necessarily get along with her family. During the week, she often times goes to a shopping plaza with some of her friends. However, they sneak across the highway to go to a popular diner where the older crowd hangs out at. At home, Connie is often times arguing with her family. One day her family is invited to her aunt's barbecue but Connie refuses to go.
Connie’s first encounter with Friend was at a diner when he stated to Connie, “Gonna get you, baby”(pg.1142). Because Connie was use to this type of attention, she did not view it as strange that an older man was calling her in such away. However, if Connie had seen Friend as dangerous instead of just another man, her kidnapping might have been prevented. Later in the story when Friend showed up as Connie’s house, she walked outside and talked to him instead of questioning how he knew where she lived or calling the police. Oates described Connie's interaction with Friend by stating,“Connie liked the way he was dressed, which was the way all of them dressed: tight faded jeans stuffed into black, scuffed boots, a belt that pulled his waist in and showed how lean he was, and a white pullover shirt that was a little soiled and showed the hard muscles of his arms and shoulders”(pg.1145).