Analysis Of Joyce Carol OatesWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

Arnold Friend’s layers of deception. Connie’s blindness is the pretext of her loss of innocence

In “Where you going ,Where have you been” “The Lottery and “A good Man is hard to find “ by Joyce Carol Oates , Shirley Jackson and Flannery O'connor try to convey that safety/security of others is put into danger when someone who abuses their power attacks them by using Diction , and Visual Imagery .

Connie does not want to be the nice and innocent pretty girl. She wants to be known for being very sexual. In the story she makes fun of her sister June because she is very modest and not sexual and causes conflict with their family. Also June is overweight twenty-four years old and still living at home. But she also does chores and does them without complaining to her parents. While Connie is a way from home she has two totally different ways of acting. Be that as it may, Arnold friend ‘s landing in her home drives her two sides to consolidate fiercely. As it were, Connie is not completely sexual until Arnold's interruption into her home until then; her sexuality was something outside of her "actual" self, the self that she permitted her family to see. Arnold also has a friend named Ellie. While Arnold drives up to Connie’s house Ellie stays in the car and she listens to music while Arnold speaks to Connie. Also Connie’s mother shows a large amount of frustration towards her and the way she acts and dresses. Connie and her mother fight constantly. But towards the end of the story when Connie is attacked my Arnold she cries out to her

Adding on to that, Connie’s shortfall that rock music has molded her has come to light when Arnold Friend gives sexual advances to her. Joyce Carol Oates shows this by writing, “It was the same program that was playing inside the house. “Bobby King?” she said. “I listen to him all the time. I think he’s great.” “He’s kind of great,” Connie said reluctantly.” “Listen, that guy’s great. He knows where the action is.” (p.3-para.2). This shows how Connie feels shocked that Arnold was also listening to the same music as she was when she was inside the house last time. Since she was incompetent in realizing how teenagers interpret the music than adult figures, Connie is vulnerable when Arnold threatens her to come to him because of the rock music that is being allotted to teenagers. To sum it up, the sexual song lyrics and the image of rock music that is normally played and embraced in the American culture has influenced Connie, a teenager, physically and mentally; therefore, she is taken advantage of by Arnold because of her immaturity and youth.

The late 1950s was a time of cultural revolution which had a large influence on the American youth. “As the next decade drew near, issues such as civil rights, war, women 's rights, and the sexual revolution would deeply affect many American teenagers. The conservative family values and morals that predominated in the 1950s were just beginning to be challenged as the decade came to a close” (Moss and Wilson 3). As a result, many teenagers lost the conservative morals of the 1950s and became more independent. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie represents the result of this cultural revolution. Criticized by her mother for her promiscuity, Connie is an independent girl who often hangs out with her friends trying to attract boys. In doing so, she attracts a sexual predator named Arnold Friend who visits her at her home to try to get her to leave with him to presumably rape her. At the end of the story, Connie chooses to go with him. Connie gets into this dangerous situation because of a mistaken belief on her self-worth, the loss of morals by her and the adults in the story, and the influence of the 1960s popular music. Looking at “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” through the historical and feminist lenses, suggests that the story is really about how the misconceptions on self-worth and the diversion of 1960s society from

What would you do if you and your families lives were at stake? This was something that I pondered about while interpreting the story of,” Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” by Joyce Carol Oates. Oates wrote this short story to create suspense. It really leaves you on edge. The most suspense would have to be at the end of the story. Oates leaves you falling off of a cliff as to what would happen to Connie and her family. It makes me ponder if this was just a dream or reality to them.

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates is based on a real-life event of Charles Schmid Jr. and the murder of multiple girls. The short story is designed around this historical event and has several key points that are comparable to both the story and the event. This story starts with a girl Connie who, like any typical teenager, is very flirtatious with a lot of guys; one person, in particular, Arnold Friend, is portrayed as a cougar. He shows up to Connie’s place, takes her somewhere and what's left is an inferred cliffhanger. The short story gives a more effective ending as it leaves the reader in a state of deep and complex thought in relations to the sudden and abrupt ending. Threats such as burning Connie’s house down, stopping her heart, and “going for a ride” are red flags that hint at Connie’s near future.

The antagonist of “Where are you going, Where have you been” written by Joyce Carol Oates, is no ordinary guy. Arnold Friends,a dynamic, round character with a charming but controlling personality, seems to be the embodiment of Atropos. A greek deity known as the moirai who is said to be the controller of fate, or specifically, one’s death. He talks a lot but reveal nothing about himself, a sign of emotionally manipulative person, someone who is able to zero in on one’s weakness, like Connie’s romantic fantasies.) Like the typical bad boy archetype he offered to take her away from the dull drone of her suburban life. But that explain how it links to arnold being atropos lmao/how death takes you away. With the quality of a calm and deep, sing-song

In the postmodern short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Oates critiques the effects of sexism on young women, urging society to end the objectification of girls.

Apparently the authors of the three critical interpretations differ, too, in their views of whether Connie has been sexually active prior to her meeting with Friend. Greg Johnson states, “Oates makes clear that Friend represents Connie’s initiation not into sex itself” she is already sexually experienced “but into sexual bondage” (161), while Joan D. Winslow argues that Connie has “not yet experienced sexual intercourse, but she is moving toward it” (162).

Soon after Arnold sees Connie at the diner, he gains an obsession, eventually appearing at her house when Connie is alone. If Connie’s tussle for independence did not lead her to the diner, she would not meet Arnold. In this way, Connie’s own decisions leads to the beginning of a horrifying fight for true freedom, creating an atmosphere of emotional horror. Consequently, Arnold Friend tries to initiate a relationship with Connie’s façade. In the story, Connie knows nothing more of love than the small hook-ups with boys she barely knows. Arnold reminds her of this by telling her, "Yes, I 'm your lover. You don 't know what that is but you will" (Oates 422). Connie behaves like a woman in her early twenties living by herself. She dates casually, she stays out every night, and flirts with anyone she made eye contact with, including Arnold. Arnold affixes on this persona of Connie’s. He knows she is just a child, but Arnold has time to teach her mind what he is going to do with her body. Arnold is determined to treat Connie like the adult he envisions, possibly giving her mental instability, a characteristic of psychological horror. The search of independence dooms Connie to a life of captivity with Arnold, playing on her own internal fear, and allowing the theme to portray aspects of psychological horror.

We all have been there. After a long days work, all we are thinking about is getting home. As you head towards your car, you notice the darkness around you and suddenly feel that you are not alone. Your pace increases and you begin to sweat mildly. If you could just get there, you’d be safe. Suddenly, you hear a noise and decide the best thing for you to do is ignore it. As you approach you car and unlock it, you sigh with relief that you’ve finally have made it. For many, our minds play tricks on us when we feel a moment of fear, however for others it may turn out to be their worst nightmare. In the story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, a young girl is forced to make a decision

An eventful story by the name of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, written by Joyce Carol Oats, was published in 1970. The story portrays a young fifteen year old girl, who may come across as egocentric and a bit careless. Her thoughtless mistake of always dressing too provocatively one day leads her into some trouble with older men. When the story ends, it makes me assume that she eventually gets violated and raped by these older men whom she lead on. The story definitely made me question myself on the actions I would take if I was in Connie’s situation. Oates’s voice definitely demonstrates how teenagers are so ignorant today because of looks, insecurities, and peer pressure.

There are things that happen when we are growing up that change us when we are grown. There are things that change us forever. Every human being is different, and there is a reason why . All of us had a childhood and all kinds of experiences some good, some bad, some full of joy but also others very painful. Eventually we grow childhood and mature depending of what we have gone through. The way we are able to handle situations is very important because one thing leads to another. We can't rely on intuition, we need to have logic in what our choices are. We can’t just punch someone in the face just because we don’t like a certain individual, or go up to

When Arnold felt that Connie was not going to do what he wanted, he started to threat in hurting her family. The more the story was coming to end, the more orders were thrown at Connie by Arnold. Many different critics were written on why Connie decided to leave her family and home and leave with a stranger. But taking the time of the story into account, it is possible to see that men, like Arnold, broke women pride and dominated them. Marie Urbanski writes “Connie leaves with Arnold because she is, “bowing to absolute forces which her youthful