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Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Literary Analysis Essay

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In Joyce Carol Oates story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” a young woman is influenced by two strangers to leave her home and go with them. Though this appears to be a dangerous situation, there is evidence to support that Connie has fallen asleep. Connie’s mother says, “Her mind [is] filled with trashy dreams. (Oates 201).” Connie is having an “exotic” or “trashy” dream about being saved by an older man from her home life. Connie and her attacker have an unsettling connection, she is exhausted and has already fallen asleep once, and events take place that commonly occurs in people’s dreams all support the theory that Connie has actually fallen asleep.
Connie first falls asleep outside of her house, immediately following her family’s …show more content…
When Arnold threatens to harm her and her family, she turns to retrieve the phone, except she is unable to dial it,
“She turned and bumped against a chair or something, hurting her leg, but she ran into the back room and picked up the telephone. Something roared in her ear, a tiny roaring, and she was so sick with fear that she could do nothing but listen to it – the telephone was clammy and very heavy and her fingers groped down to the dial but were too weak to tough it (209).”
Dreaming of paralysis is a common phenomenon. When one dreams of being paralyzed in a dream, it represents the fear of being held back from accomplishing something in their life. Connie is afraid that there is nothing left at home, Arnold friend tells her in her dream that “it’s all over for you here (209),” indicating that Connie believes she is better off without her family. After she tries dialing the phone, there stands a period of lost time where Connie wakes up on the floor and is sweating. Being unable to recount for lost time and night sweats is common in dreams. Along with her paralysis, Connie is unable to recognize exactly where she is. When Connie wakes up outside, she states “the asbestos ‘ranch house’ that was now three years old startled her – it looked small (202).” Connie, once again, is unable to recognize where she’s at when she goes into the kitchen, the text states; “Her eyes darted everywhere in the kitchen, she could not remember what it was (208).” And lastly Connie does not recognize the land around her house; “so much land that Connie had never seen before and did not recognize except to know that she was going to it

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