...How many young girls do you know who have had their innocence taken from them? A fifteen year old girl named Connie is forced to grow up entirely too fast by a man named Arnold Friend. Without meaning any harm, she flaunts herself around town acting like a mature woman, showing the world she thinks she ready to grow up. Joyce Carol Oates’s short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” illustrates how evil and manipulative one man is to a not so innocent Connie. Although Connie thinks she wants her independence as a woman, Arnold Friend, who is not who he seems to be, destroys her youthful innocence and introduces her to a world of evil. Connie begins to find independence in her appearance. She is constantly admiring herself in the mirror and being scolded for it by her mother. She tries to make herself sexually attractive in search of her own independence (SparkNotes Web). Connie goes out with her friends and flaunts her beauty and body, making herself look interested in older men; she thinks she is doing no harm when she is flirting. Like most teenagers, Connie wants to express her independence by going places alone with her friends. Being only fifteen, she is not able to drive, so she is dependent on the older people in her life. Connie is resentful of not having her full independence, but her family and friends constitute as the only life she knows. While Connie believes she is only making herself look older in order to appear beautiful, she is actually luring an...
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...Teenagers are at an awkward stage where they are treated like children but supposed to act like adults. Many teens are sheltered while growing up, and go through a kind of culture shock, not unlike the protagonist Connie [Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”] goes through. These are often times in a young adult’s life where he or she tries to figure out the future and his or her place there. These teens can get every stressed an overwhelmed they don’t know as much as they once thought. Independence and the sudden realization of growing up can be startling for many teenagers. Like many teenagers, Connie feels a need to be independent. One of the things she hates most is her mother comparing her and her...
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...“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Summary In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” author Joyce Carol Oates presents the main character a fifteen year old girl named Connie who’s life is all about being pretty. Connie all ways casted two sides to herself. Her appearance and mannerisms would be displayed one way at home with her family, and entirely different when she was not. Often Connie and her friends would go to a shopping plaza, although they would wander across to a drive-in restaurant, which was a hangout for many of the adolescents. There one night Connie caught the eye of a boy with black hair in a gold convertible. The next day Connie was home alone, while her family was at a barbeque when she heard someone pulling into her driveway. She looked out the window to find that it was the boy with the black hair and gold convertible, which she had seen the prior night. She went to the screen door where the black hair boy approached her. He introduced himself as Arnold Friend and invites her to go for a ride. She replies no and Arnold starts to reveal that he knows much more about Connie than she is aware of. After conversing for a moment she realizes he is much older and steps back shutting the screen door. Arnold keeps suggesting that she step outside and go on a ride with him; however, Connie keeps insisting he leaves or she will call the police. She runs to the back room and picks up the phone, but is overcome with terror. She hangs up...
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...Symbolism of “Screen Door” “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, is packed with symbols that are very important to the meaning of the short story. There are several important symbols in the story that eventually leads up to Connie’s decision to give herself to Arnold. One of the crucial symbols in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is the screen door of Connie’s house. The screen door symbolizes Connie's transition from a teenager to a mature woman that is accepting her fate. Throughout the story Connie is scared to open the door and go outside, the closest she gets is when the boys first pull up and she “hung[s] out the screen door, [with] her toes curling down off the step” (Oates 508). Connie knows that Arnold won’t come in the house because he tells her several times, “I’m not coming in that house after you” (Oates 513). So in a way she feels comforted by the screen door that is separating them. The screen door is a boundary between Connie and Arnold, Connie stands inside the house as Arnold stands on the front porch with his arms open. If Connie opens the screen door to go out with Arnold she is excepting her fate but if she keeps the screen door shut and stays inside, she remains the fearful young teenager who is not ready to leave. By the end of the story Connie has made up her mind, “She put her hand against the screen door. She watched herself push the door slowly open as if she were safe back somewhere in the other doorway,...
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...Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? In the story “Where are you going, where have you been” by Joyce Oates is about a beautiful young girl, Connie, that is trying to grow up too fast. She obsesses over her looks, friends, music, and day dreams about boys all day. She gets great pleasure in the fact that many boys of all ages find her very attractive. This though gets her in a lot of trouble with a boy name Arnold. This boy puts on a fake façade to get Connie to come to him. He manipulates her and deceives her. Arnold friend could also be interpreted as “Arch fiend” suggesting that he may be the devil. Many things that the author Joyce suggest leads the reader to believe that he may be the devil. For one his pale skin and his hair is wild, almost as though he is wearing a wig and hiding some horns underneath. When he walks he wobbles almost suggesting that he may have hooves as feet, just like the devil. Demon or not, however, his strangely mismatched appearance adds to the threatening quality of his calm voice and seemingly gentle coaxing as he tries to convince Connie to come outside. Connie at first is strangely attracted to Arnold in a very dangerous way. He is a very attractive, sexy older man that is showing some interest in her. He is also very alluring to her. Something about him keeps her interested. He offers to take her away from her very unhappy life and give her a better one in a field with flowers and sunshine. Soon though he beings to make threats and demands...
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...teenagers convey a point to make men put their eyes upon them. In the short story “Where are you going, Where have you been?” Oates uses religious symbolism to show the end of innocence. “Where are you going, Where have you been?” opens with the physical description of fifteen-year old Connie. She is very beautiful and often checks herself in the mirror to reassure her beauty. Her mother disapproves of this habit and often scolds her about it. This habit of hers indicates that she is insecure and depends solely on her beauty for people...
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...In the short story, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?, Carol Oates symbolizes Arnold Friend as representing the devil who comes to lure Connie away to her home. In the story, Arnold Friend portrays similar characteristics a demon would have; such as, his height, looking ageless, and having a fake appearance. The devil, known for pretending to be someone who he isn’t to lure people in, Arnold Friend does this perfectly by driving up in a flashy car, “ It was an open jalopy, painted a bright gold that caught the sunlight opaquely. Her heart pounds and her fingers snatch at her hair, checking it, and she whispers, "Christ. Christ," wondering how bad she looked”(2), and caking on makeup, “His whole face was a mask, she thought wildly,...
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...as a light wave, away from a boundary the wave encounters” (dictionary.com). However, in literature, waves can represent so much more. The reflection of ones self can be a representation of not only their physical appearance, but their spiritual appearance, emotional appearance, and interior appearance as well. Although some reflections show distortion, many reflections actually display a brutally honest picture. Through the repetition of various types of reflection, Oates is able to paint a vivid image of the innermost being of her characters, as well as offering insight on the reality of society during the 1960s and even the reality of our society today. The repetition of sunglasses used throughout the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” may serve to highlight the hidden feelings of insecurity within the characters. This insecurity can be seen as Oates writes, “Both boys wore sunglasses. The driver’s glasses were metallic and mirrored everything in miniature.” This observation made by Connie claims that everything that she is able to see within the reflection is small, which may also include herself. In society being small is often associated with a sense of inferiority; therefore, the “miniature” reflection described by Connie may be symbolism for her insecurity. This same insecurity may be reflected as Oates writes “Connie blushed a little, because the glasses made it impossible or her to see just what this boy was looking at.” This action from...
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...Throughout the history of the world, society has been plagued by periods of extreme brutality and disorder, and it is often difficult to come to terms with what happened. All forms of literature, from novels to short stories to poems, can offer a way to understand those kinds of atrocities in which people may not be familiar or able to come to terms, by presenting a coping mechanism that is relatable. Examples of how literature allows society to accept the violence and oppression that surrounds them can be found in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Since both stories contain events that seem cruel and horrifying, readers can analyze the actions of the “villain” and make connections to the real world and relate it to the horrors of everyday life....
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...form of literature to surly make the reader obtain the full experience. In Charlotte Gilman’s short story The Yellow Wallpaper, the storyteller is a patient with her husband as her caretaker who has been confined to a specific bedroom. This woman has been forced against her will to have no form of action to express herself which leads to an uncanny and incomprehensible withdrawal from reality. Another short story with similar uneasy narration written by author Joyce Carol Oates is called Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? exemplifying a woman who has decided it is time that she goes out and has some fun in the town...
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...Richard McQuitery Analyzing “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” English 221 Westwood College “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates is a story with connections to Bob Dylan, has themes of control and family, and has an antagonist that is believed to have been based on a serial killer. It is one of many stories of the ages that will be discussed for years to come. Joyce Carol Oates dedicated this short story to Bob Dylan. Oates admitted in an interview that after hearing Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” she was inspired to write the story. (Davidson, 1997) Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you Forget the dead you’ve left, they will not follow you The vagabond who’s rapping at your door Is standing in the clothes that you once wore Strike another match, go start anew And it’s all over now, Baby Blue (Dylan, 1965) After hearing these lyrics in Dylan’s song, it is very easy to identify the scene with Connie speaking to Arnold Friend through the screen door. The song’s eerie tone adds a greater depth to Arnold and Connie’s conversation. In an interview on Youtube, Oates was asked why she dedicated the story to Bob Dylan, and her response was: “…Dylan was in a phase where he was writing music like “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” and that song, and some others on the same album were rather like fairy tales and nursery rhymes that had gone wrong. He had taken a kind of simplicity of imagery...
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...troublesome girl, Connie. Connie is a fifteen year old girl who learns that being presumptuous may affect her life negatively quickly after encountering a mysterious man who will not take no for an answer. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been includes a variety of symbols; Connie, music, and Arnold’s car. There are also a few themes within this story; beauty can be a curse, and the desire for independence. Oates begins the story by giving us a glimpse of Connie admiring herself, fixing herself up with hairspray, and being fulfilled of daydreams. Connie’s mother criticizes and scolds her for the way she looks and the cockiness she withholds. Connie is always being compared to her older sister, June, who is very simple and helpful around the house. Connie is a sex symbol, she craves attention and receives it quite easily. She is very flirtatious and begins to explore her sexuality, Eddie. Her sexual persona is her blessing but is used as a curse against her. There are a a few mentions of music throughout the story and that’s simply...
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...The story “The Company of Wolves” takes place in a forested, mountainous country in the dead winter and illustrates how ruthless the wolves are by terrorizing and killing those who are less strong. However, the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” takes place in a suburb and focuses on a fifteen-year-old girl who is approached by a stranger trying to lure her out of her home. Even though both stories take place in different settings, both protagonists are somehow similar; both are naïve, yearn for mature independence, and seek attention from the people around them. The protagonist from both stories are both naïve young girls that are ignorant about life. The young girl from “The Company of Wolves” is so naïve that she thinks she...
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...In the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where have you been?” depicts a young woman Connie, who is trying to find her personal identity. Family struggles lead to Connie’s demise, as her mother and father neglected her in different fashions. As the story progresses, her youthfulness gets the most of her and leads to unfortunate events. Disgruntled Connie, endures the real world relatively quick, and soon finds out she isn’t ready to face it alone. Connie’s mother belittled her in bizarre variations. Mothers in general do not critique their children, no matter the circumstance. In Connie’s situation, her father is never around, and only receiving negative comments from her household. Her intentions to grow up, and experience the real world,...
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...“In Where Are You Going and Where Have You Been?’ Joyce Carol Oates tells of a girl longing for independence and freedom. She suffers with her identity search, because she is young, she is still trying to find herself. In her fight for identity she loses her innocence along with her independence. Oates also uses a lot of biblical archetypes, along with a strong selection of detail and word choice in order to teach the reader lessons about life through allegory. In the beginning of the story we see Connie is very infatuated with herself, she thinks looks are everything. “She is fifteen and she had a quick nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors, or checking others people’s faces to make sure her own was all right. Her mother who noticed everything and knew everything and who didn’t have everything and had much reason any longer to look at her own face”.(Oates 468 ) The author uses allegory here to give us a picture of her relationship with her mom, a sense of jealously .So her mom compares Connie to her sister, June, her favorite daughter, who is totally...
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