Analysis Of Where Are You Going Where Have You Been

Oates emphases that Connie is in her adolescence, who is trying to transition into thinking like an adult. Connie, who is obsessed with her appearance, is constantly “craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right”(Oates 1). She is starting to

Where there is desire, there is hope, despair, and struggle. Joyce Carol Oates illustrates animatedly the asphyxiated struggle of desire in her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” The story narrates the life of a young girl, named Connie, and her fated and enigmatic confrontation with a strange man. Feeling trapped in her own home with her own family, Connie, a self-conscious and rebellious teenager, tries to figure out a way to identify herself with the world around her. Her desire of escaping the reality fuels her struggle to enter adulthood. Through the physical form of Arnold Friend, who embodies both the hope and the despair in Connie’s struggle, the author metaphorically portrays a vigorous and psychological pressure that Connie has to endure. The story is scripted to allude to the danger of identifying oneself through sexuality in young girls. To better understanding this cryptic story, it is important to follow the psychological processes and conflict of Connie’s character, which help unveil the allegorical meaning of a young girl’s rite of passage through sex.

Connie is a young, immature character, who is incredibly self-conscious about her looks, and how people view her. She has a habit of constantly looking at herself in the mirror, and is often scolded at by her mother. Her mother compares Connie to her older sister, June, who receives all the praise. Her mother favors June because she is grown up and makes contributions to the home, as Connie is just in her own realm, usually daydreaming. This creates resentment towards her mother, and Connie wishes that her mother was dead. This most likely fuels her to gain the independence that she is looking for and become the mature adult she acts like outside the home. Connie had completely different

In the beginning of the story Connie is scolded by her mother, disapproving of Connie looking at herself through

In the American society, when individuals reach adolescence, they begin to search for their identity by exploring their interests and opening their mind to new notions and ideas. This is the psychological and physical human development that ultimately leads them to their adulthood. Joyce Carol Oates' short story depicts a fifteen year old girl with typical teenage concerns. She has to face the realization of the meaning of maturity in the American civilization when she is ripped out of her childhood by Arnold Friend. In the short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", Joyce Carol Oates suggests that when teenagers are in the coming of age, they are easily fooled and taken

In the story Oates mentions about Connie that “everything about her has two sides to it” (1), by this Oates means the way Connie would act at home was completely different from the way she would act out in public and with her friends. In Connie’s home setting Connie was a very self-centered character. She believed “she was pretty and that was everything.” (1), Connie may be extremely insecure about herself, considering that she believes her looks are all she has to offer. Connie and her mother’s relationship was not the best. Her mother would continuously point out things Connie would do wrong and would compare Connie to her sister, June. In one

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

Many people live life in a “fantasy world” and sometimes when they dream, that fantasy could end up like it is really happening. In the short story,Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates there is a likely chance that Connie’s encounter was a dream. Through further analysis it is revealed that Joyce Carol Oates’ short story is merely a dream in which Connie’s odd wish is fulfilled, all of which is achieved through setting, characterization, and plot.

life she have been living with her parents and want to live a fulfilling life in her kingdom or

The teenage rebellion, which most of people experience during the puberty, always worsens the relationship between parents and children. Written by Joyce Carol Oates, the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” describes the condition and consequence of a family whose child is rebellious. Through the characterization, plot, and dialogue, Oates successfully exhibits the thesis that Connie’s bad ending is the consequence of her parents’ attitude and actions.

The teenage rebellion, which most of people experience during the puberty, always worsens the relationship between parents and children. Written by Joyce Carol Oates, the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” describes the condition and consequence of a family whose child is rebellious. Through the characterization, plot, and dialogue, Oates successfully exhibits the thesis that Connie’s bad ending is the consequence of her parents’ attitude and actions.

In the story, “Where are you Going, Where Have you Been?” the author, Joyce Carol Oates, uses literary devices to convey a message about the loss of innocence. To be more specific, Oates’s characterization of the protagonist, Connie, specifically shows the actions leading to her innocence being taken from her. The literary device of characterization gives a clear picture Oates thoughts at the time she wrote the story, expressing concern for young girls who are at risk of having their innocence taken from them.

Moral and social beliefs were being challenged and the youth of America, while coming of age, were rebelling against their parent’s ideals and creating their own culture. The birth of a social movement was upon the world and issues such as sexual freedom, feminism and other civil rights were hot topics during the years prior to Oates writing this story. It is these social changes and society’s interest in them that creates the foundation for the setting that breathes life into this story. Without this foundation, the coming-of-age story of Connie, not to mention American society, and her journey from the innocence of the 1950s into the bitter reality of the turbulent times of the 1960s would have been lost.

The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” By Joyce Carol Oates it show: Visions of America, Sexuality, and Youth. In Visions of America it gives us a look on how some family’s live in America. People who might not be from the United States they might see the vision of a happy family with both parents and their children eating dinner at the dinner tables. However that is not how everyone who lives in America lives like. Or that if a person moves to the United States they can have their American dream of having nothing in life to tomorrow being the richest person. But it is not as easy as saying as it happening, because in fact most people’s American dream might never start. American’s families are not as perfect as what people from around the world might see it. There is problem in every family from big to small, but everyone deals with it. I believe that Connie really shows what happens back doors in an American family. Joyce Carol Oates really buts Connie as this character that many people do not see who are not from the United States, that a daughter talks and doesn’t like her mother or doesn’t have a good relationship with her father. “Connie wished her mother was dead and she herself was dead and it was all over. “She makes me want to throw up sometimes,” she complained to her friends. She had a high, breathless, amused voice that made everything she said sound a little forced, whether it was sincere or not.”(pg. 506) Or

There are some stories that capture the reader’s attention and which keep us riveted from the beginning to the ultimate line of the tale. ‘’Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?’’, a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates in 1966, is one of those. Inspired by the mythic song of the phenomenal singer Bob Dylan entitled ‘’It’s all over Now, Baby Blue,’’ the author describes the main character as a 15-year-old girl named ‘’ Connie’’, who is obsessed by her beauty and does not get along with her family. The heroine of the story ‘’Connie,’’ engages in an adolescent rebellion against her entourage by acting to appear older. This increases her vulnerability through the story and at the end