...character in Carol Oates’ short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” is a self conscious teenage girl with a quirky personality. Her condescending mother constantly measures her up against her older sister June, which leads to resentment and tension between Connie and her otherwise admirable sister. On a night out with her friend, Connie has a strange encounter with a boy at a drive in restaurant which introduces the personified Freudian struggle between the ID, Ego, and Superego. First, it is necessary to comprehend how Connie’s family is the personification of the Freudian Superego. By simply relating the characteristics used to describe each family member to the concept of a Superego, the reader can condense their apparent individuality into this definitive Freudian ideal. June, a twenty-four year old still living and working from her parents home, serves as an example of low-risk and conservative decision making. Early in the story Oates writes, “June did this, June did that, she saved money and helped clean the house and cooked and Connie couldn't do a thing, her mind was all filled with trashy daydreams” (Oates, 1), which provides supporting evidence in proving June’s...
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...“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” with Joyce Wags’ View on Grotesque Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is more than a horror about a fifteen-year-old girl’s daydream turning into nightmare. Attracted by the complex structure and message of this story, Critic Joyce M. Wegs expresses her appreciation to the “multiple levels” the story’s structure and its ability to “[reach] beyond the surface of realism” (Wegs 66). Before turning to her reasoning of Arnold Friend’s true identity as the Devil, Wegs suggests that Connie’s tragic fate is a result of her “excessive devotion to …popular culture” (Wegs 66), and her lack of parental guidance. However, questions remain in Wegs’...
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...happen in a blink of an eye. Some of changes are small, like making new friends. Other times these changes aremajor, like the transition between being a child, and becoming an adult. In Joyce Carol Oates “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” the author dramatizes the decisive moment people face when at the crossroads between the illusions and innocence of youth and the uncertain future. Joyce Carol Oates' message of life and transitions is best understood when the reader brings his or her interpretation to meet with the author's intention at a middle ground. In this story of life passages and crucial events, it is imperative that the reader has a solid response to Oates' efforts in order to fully comprehend the message. The author begins her message with the title of her work, which conveys the idea of passages of time in life. The phrase where are you going asks of the future, and the phrase where have you been wonders of the past. The reader is let into Connies thoughts making her the focal point of the story. The reader is let into a world that we can all be familiar with. Connie an attractive fifteen year old girl, the typical teenager. A world full of music, friends, fun. She spends the summer going to town, hanging with friends, listening to music, and meeting with boys. She and her friends sharesimilar interests in boys and fun, and would lean together and whisper andlaugh secretly (Oates 703) when they gathered together. Like many teens, Connieseemingly lives...
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...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. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" consists of two main focus scenes: the world Connie thrives in and the day everything in it changes. The story begins by introducing the reader to Connie (the protagonist's) world. The story is written in limited omniscient point of view in the third person. The reader is allowed into the private thoughts of Connie only,...
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...Joyce Carol Oates’s short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” alludes to the mythical tale of Hades and Persephone throughout the story. The two stories express the relationship of life and death. The love and desire are emotions that are connected with life and death. The dark and wickedness invades the mind and thoughts of a person, and he or she cannot control that desire. The lust and desire for another person leads to drastic measures. Death is a natural way of life. Everyone experiences death and the baggage of emotions that comes with the loss. Hades is the god of the underworld, which is where all mortals spend all of eternity; so Hades is a symbol of death. In the story of Hades and Persephone, Hades is dark,...
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...In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates illustrates an adolescent 15 years old girl called Connie. A typical teenager who thinks she has the world in her hands, converting this girl in the perfect prospect for a murder. Critic Clifford J. Kurkowski finds this a “significant issue in literary criticism because it questions Connie’s values and morals, and the author’s intent.” It was easy for these girls to be a victim of a forced sexual encounter or a violation because they were immature, innocent, and their parents did not pay attention to them. Making Connie the perfect victim for the murderer Arnold Field Introducing herself as a teenager, Connie is looking for attention and love regardless of the consequences this may bring. By behaving and dressing like an adult woman she walks around creating sexual attention in the light of older men. This leads her to be part of this number of girls who try to find love and attention on the hands of the wrong person. Apparently Connie is becoming increasingly alienated from her family. “Her parents and sister were going to a barbecue at an aunt's house and Connie said no, she wasn't interested” (340). This shows the relationship between Connie and her family, it was very unstable; there were lack of love, and a contribution to the fact that her parents did not care about their children. This shows how Connie contributed to her own demise because she was not even trying to spend quality time with her family and...
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...In the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”- Written in 1966, as a tribute to Bob Dylan- Joyce Carol Oates, tells the story of a teenage girl Connie, and her struggles with discontent, vanity, and attachment. Despite some tensions with her parents Connie has a decent summer and goes to the town center with friends often. She loves to engage with pop-culture and the sweet sounds of the 1960’s. Despite being a highly courted young lady, Connie dreamt of the perfect boy, to capture her and breathe life into her seemingly lackluster life. A man named Arnold Friend sees Connie out one evening and proceeds to arrive at her door step, with an invitation to escape soon thereafter. After much persuasion, Connie decides to climb into Arnold’s car, despite some reservations about his age and character. Themes such as maturation, lust, and youth present interesting insight to the mind of a young girl of a time period in which women’s’ social...
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