Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

“We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality” (Murdock). However, fantasies can interfere with an individual’s belief system and can cause a confusion. In the narrative by Joyce Carol Oates short story “Where Are You Going, Where have you been?” The story takes place around the 1960’s. In fact, this was the same time a real-life American serial killer named Charles Schmin started to target females. The narrator admits that her story was influenced by the famous serial killer. What I interpreted throughout the passage is that Connie who is the main character is facing a conflict between fantasy and reality. When Connie leaves home, another side of her is shown to society. She knows she can attract older boys. The way she’s able to do so is because of her appearance and personality. Connie ends up staying stuck with Arnold Friend, who puts her into a horrifying situation. As you read the selection you can’t deny that the author uses symbolism as the main theme. The reason why Oats decided to use symbolism, allegory, and metaphors to demonstrate through Connie’s Sexuality, where she beings to lose touch with her senses.

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.

In the short story “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” both characters, Connie and Arnold, suffer from having dual identities. Connie is an individual who acts completely different outside her home, where she tries to portray an image of being sexually appealing. However, she is the complete opposite within her home, where she hides her sexuality and acts more like the adolescent she really is. Arnold is a mature man, something Connie is looking for in life and this intrigues her. Both characters have trouble with their dual identities, Connie’s leads her to being vulnerable to growing mature in an unpleasant manner by the force of Arnold, while Arnold’s unknown character proves to not be genuine, as Connie brings out his violent nature in her quest to be an independent adult.

In the story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? It talks about a man and a woman whose names are Connie and also Arnold friend. Arnold is suppose ably Connie’s friend who seems to just be Connie’s conscious speaking to her to tell her to do the thinks that she does.

her household she resorts to outside sources, making herself a victim to boys, which creates a

In the short story "Where are you going where have you been?" by Joyce Carol Oats and the song Wake Up by EDEN, the author and the artist both show the thematic concepts on how fantasies come to an end, and when reality hits, it hits hard.

Connie is a young fifteen year old who cares about her sexual drive that men have toward her. “The 1960s unleashed the so called sexual revolution. It seemed more a source of comic relief and tragic nostalgic recirculation than political inspiration…” This revolution consisted of women demanding their own rights so they could become more and more independent. There were significant shifts in social attitudes, behaviors, and institutional regulations at the beginning of the 60’s and also lasted through the 70’s. The sexual drive increased majorly and the amount of women that had sex before marriage also sky rocketed. In Where Are you Going, Where Have You Been, Connie wants sexual attention from men, and that hurts her self-confidence and

Fear is the ultimate emotion because it is both mankind’s greatest strength and greatest flaw. It gives us reason, but can also be irrational. If one can surpass their fears, it can reward them greatly. Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe, follows a life of an adventurer from a young age and his story of traveling the world. Robinson, the main character, gets into many dangerous situations, from being enslaved by pirates, to being shipwrecked and being stuck on a deserted island. Robinson has to conquer many fears. Another story that fear is prevalent in is Beowulf, which follows the story of a supernatural human, Beowulf, who fights multiple monsters that no mortal could defeat. Lastly, fear is prevalent in “The Wife

The short story “Where are you going, Where have you been” by Joyce Carol Oates was published in 1966. The story was purposely written for Bob Dylan, who’s song “It’s all over now, Baby Blue” had a great influence on the story. story Oates gives us many descriptions of the characters to give the reader a better understanding of what the character is feeling, thinking, and shows their personalities through their actions. The story also includes many signs and a great deal of symbolism. In this analysis, I will explore is Arnold friend representing an evil entity or is he simply genuinely trying to be Connie’s friend. A character by the name of Arnold Friend could potentially be a symbol of a demonic force, or even the devil.

The Cultural Revolution and Sexual Desires in Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”

In Oates's "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" it portrays the confusing nature of sexuality. A story set in the America of mid-1900s. A conflict of morals characterized this time, especially sexually related ones. There was a hot debate on the topic of sexuality among adolescents. The roles of women were being challenged and quickly changing. This story describes a psychosexual episode between a male predator and the protagonist, a female

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

In the short fiction Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? tells a story about a young 15-year-old girl named, Connie. Connie spends her time meeting boys, lounging around the house and going out with her friends. One night an unusual man makes a threatening gesture to her in the parking lot of a local drive-in restaurant. Until, one day the unusual man pulls up in her driveway in a gold colored car. The man introduces himself as Arnold Friend and asks Connie to join him for a ride. During their conversation, Connie is aware that Arnold is dangerous; his language becomes more sexual and violent, and he warns her that he will hurt her family if she calls the police. In the end, she leaves the house and joins Arnold. Connie is stuck between the lines of her sexual daydreams and reality up until she is entangled among by Arnold Friend and his infatuating music playing in his car. Everything about her had two aspects to it, one when she was at home and one for anywhere but home.

A short story titled "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" tells a tale of an adolescent girl who suffers consequences of growing up in the unsupportive environment and the society preoccupied by the media. It is considered to be the most famous work of Joyce Carol Oates, an American writer, the winner of many significant literary awards and a two- time candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The story was first published in the fall of 1966. It is dedicated "to Bob Dylan", as though, after having heard Dylan's song "It's all over now, Baby Blue" Oates got inspiration for the story. She was also influenced by the article about Charles Schmid, a twenty-

In Joyce Carol Oates’s short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” the author sets the feeling of danger and uncertainty stemming from events occurring throughout the story with the utilization of themes from Thomas C. Foster’s “ How to Read Literature Like a Professor” specifically with references to seasons, the bible, and significant symbolisms.