Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Summary

Her name is Connie, and she is not unlike many girls of the time she lives in. She is vain, she is constantly at war with her family, and she is in an incredible rush to grow up. Her race to maturity is the trait focused on in Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been." It splits Connie into two different personalities: 'One for home, and one for anywhere that was not home' (431). Everything about her?her walk, her smile, and her laugh?metamorphoses as soon as she steps out the front door. The child is hidden, the seductive young woman emerges, and the world of the ?big kids? is more than willing to take her in. This world is what

“It's all over now, baby blue”. (Dylan 1965) The fictional story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? was written by Joyce Carol Oates in 1966 and is dedicated to Bob Dylan. She stated that her short story was somewhat based off of the song written by Bob Dylan “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”. The short story is about a fifteen-year-old girl named Connie who is very troublesome. She captures the attention of a strange older man named Arnold Friend and he starts to stalk her. Connie’s family goes to town one day and her stalker drives up with another weird man and asks Connie to go with them. She ponders leaving with them until she realizes something is off, she becomes alarmed and goes back inside to call for help. The stalker then threatens her family so she goes with the mysterious men. It is assumed that she is to be abducted and violated. Connie’s character shows the qualities of being vain, immature, and naïve and does not change throughout the entirety of the story.

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 Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates has a constant theme of reality and fantasy running parallel for 15 year old Connie. This short story begins with a description of Connie’s vain personality. The narrator describes her as pretty and self-centered (Oates 421). To emphasize her selfishness, Connie is contrasted with her sister, June, who is chubby, plain, and well-behaved. Connie’s mother always praises June for her work ethic and help around the house, but says Connie can’t do anything due to “trashy daydreams”. There isn’t much of a father figure in Connie’s life due to her father being away for work most of the time and detached when

Adolescence, the part of life we are most willing to forget. The awkward years of being stuck between, not yet an adult but certainly not a child. These years, however awful they maybe, are essential to the character that later develops. During adolescence we make decisions that shape the course of our life, from the personal interactions between friends and family to the academic decisions that impact future career, choices you make as a young adult impact you forever. Partially due to the importance of these short few years, it is not surprising how often children can make poor choices that derail their entire life. Increasing at startling frequency, these stories foretell of a dismal future. Due to this cautionary tales of adolescence have been rising in pop-culture. One of these is “Where are you going? Where have you been? By Carol Joyce Oates. This story tells of Connie, a young adult trying to make the leap to adulthood. Connie in her attempt to breach the gap ends up in drawing attention of Arnold Friend sealing the fate of her poorly executed coming of age. Connies ill fated coming of age in “Where have you been? Where are you going?” by Carol Joyce Oates acts as a cautionary tale about modern perils of adolescence.

Through its contrasting reality and dreamlike scenes, Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” uses details from a true American horror story to convey a message about society, youth and a loss of innocence. Arizona native Charles Schmid murdered Alleen Rowe on May 31, 1964. Schmid was considered a serial killer and was subsequently arrested and convicted of the heinous crimes that he was accused of. The profile of Schmid as a short man who wore makeup, wigs and altered boots to make

Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is about a young girl who is

By looking at the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” we can see that a teenager by the name Connie is on the search for independence but also is still dependent on her parents, which most readers don't see; We see this happening when her friends dad took her and her friends to the movie theater (“ Where Are You Going Where Have You Been 861”). That part is important in the story because when Connie is at home she behaves like a brat and when she's with her friend she's a completely different person; she dresses more provocatively.

After reading the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” it makes me thinks about the society we live in today. There are many young girls that are just like the main character Connie, looking for attention in all the wrong places. Connie was willing to dress the part of being an older woman, but was still so very naïve little girl that does not have I clue about is going on in the world around her. It is very shocking how this author’s story from 1960s makes a strong connection to how so many girls come up missing because they get caught up in the wrong person that means no good for them in the 21st century. Connie is a young girl who wants to live in the moment and be free from the shadow of her sister, therefore the poor

“Where are You Going, Where Have you Been,” by Joyce Carol Oates introduces the two main characters in the story, Connie and Arnold Friend. Connie is a beautiful fifteen year old girl going through a normal change from adolescent to adulthood. However, Connie changes between two different sides of her personality. One side, she is innocent and young, and the other, she is grown and mature. She tries to act older than her age and her head is filled with daydreams and music. However, when Arnold Friend comes to her house, that she is faced with the reality of adulthood, which she is not ready to face. All this is happening because of what she is going through at home, she is dissatisfied because her mother constantly nags everything

Joyce Carol Oates wrote the short story “where are you going, where have you been”. She introduced Connie who is a pretty girl and only fifteen years old to us and she doesn't like staying with her mom and older sister, but likes listening to music and watching movies. She spends a lot of time with her friends and staying at a drive-in restaurant. She’s crazy about boys and she tries to make herself look sexual.

“Where are you going Where have you been” by Joyce Carol Oates, tells us about one innocent girl in search of independence, drawn in by a mysterious guy named Arnold Friend who contrasts with Satan. The author uses several accounts of imagery that relate to the theme in the story, Fantasy and Reality. In reality Connie is a 15 year old girl, who lives with her mother, father and sister June. She occasionally sneaks out with her friends. Now Connie fantasies about truly being a woman.

“I know everybody." These are some of the first words spoken by Arnold Friend in the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”. The impact of these words on the reader will vary based on how one approaches them. To some, they may be the soul of mundanity, with little to no significance or weight apart from some arrogance on the part of Arnold. To others, they may be indicative a deeper, much darker, reality within the story. Some critics have ventured to declare Arnold Friend as being the embodiment of Satan. Many before me have expounded upon the evidences as to Arnold’s demonic nature. With that in mind, however, I would like to approach this idea from a different perspective. Are there any truths apparent regarding Arnold when one reads between the lines, assesses the main characters’ psychological makeup, or breaks down their motivations? Let us find out.

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates is a story about an older man tricking a younger beautiful, and youthful girl into getting into his car and ultimately leading to her “death”. Connie the main character is struggling from the beginning of the story with multiple things. One being she has problems with her parents, leading her to look for other ways to feel like she needs to force herself into a forced adulthood. The central idea is that life shouldn’t be rushed and that we need to be more open to our parents and listen to what they’re telling us. They might be trying to tell us something and we don’t even know it.

She went to bed early, in the morning she had school. She got ready but she wore boy cloths. As she got in the bus people laughed at her and said mean things. As she got off people stared, she got uncomfortable. She ran to the girls bathroom and stared cry. She felt