Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? By Joyce Carol Oates

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” was published in 1966 by Joyce Carol Oates. The story follows a girl, Connie, who encounters a mysterious man. She catches him watching her walk away with another boy, but doesn’t bother to think of him. As the days pass, she is stuck home alone to do whatever she wants; she enjoys her day relaxing—daydreaming about boys—until a car drives up to her house. Who might it be? The man… the man we soon call as Arnold Friend. Connie’s failure to look beyond her fantasies makes her prone to manipulation and deception; so one of her major character flaws is naiveté.

how Arnold Friend sees her and does not realize that she cannot see him or his motives. Arnold

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.

In, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, by Joyce Carol Oates and “Eveline”, by James Joyce, two characters prove to be completely different but share few similarities as well. In both short stories, the main characters, Connie in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” and Eveline in “Eveline”, are both teenage girls who face problems at home. Connie and Eveline who are both caught up in their own cultures in different times are Both girls seem like they have it all going for them but what they conclusively share in common is their final decision bringing them to their downfall. The theme in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” and “Eveline,” possess and unyielding insecurity which stems from their family lives. Everything had two sides to it, one for one home and one for the other. Each of the girl 's home lives was oppressive and restraining. Making them both have to grow up faster.

Connie, the protagonist of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, is a character who goes through a traumatic experience in her life. Her encounter with the antagonist, Arnold Friend, permanently changes her selfish innocence and challenges her way of thinking. With an unsupportive family and shallow friends, Connie lacks a strong moral foundation and is self-absorbed. Connie’s character, by the end of the story, changes through her encounter with Arnold Friend. Connie transforms from a selfish, shallow character to one of self-awareness.

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.

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” is a popular short story written by Joyce Carol Oates, a well-known American writer born in 1938 who is well-known for her literary works in various genres (“Joyce Carol Oates”). In her short story, Oates depicts Connie, a self-centered teenager, being pursued by a mysterious and potentially dangerous individual who claims to be named Arnold Friend. At the end of the work, Arnold finally convinces Connie to allow herself to be abducted by him and his friend which could lead to Connie’s death. Throughout Oates’ piece, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” hidden intent is continually observed, resulting from the mentions of Arnold Friend’s mirrored sunglasses and his mask-like makeup, which both symbolize masks.

Have you ever encountered a person who seemed to be one thing, but in reality was the exact opposite? Arnold Friend disguised himself and depended on Connie being gullible enough not to have an outlook on the circumstance he was leading her to. Connie had to take a double look at him. Suddenly, it hit her; something about that man just did not feel right to her. Who was he? What were his intentions? How did he know her? Arnold Friend exhibited a great quantity of manipulation over Connie to get her to fall into his cunning scheme. In the short story “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?”, the author Joyce Carol Oates portrayed the character Arnold Friend as a mood altering sinister who desperately tried to be accepted by his prey.

Where Are You Going, Where have you been? is a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates. The 75 year old American author and professor at Princeton University, introduce the story of 15 year old Connie who is rebelling against her mother’s whishes. A very arrogant and selfish girl that in her world the only thing that matters is how many heads she can turn when walking into a room. Through the story life gives her a test, to confront Arnold Friend, the antagonist of the story; who possesses a nefarious power beyond her own experience.

In Joyce Carol Oate's short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been," the main character Connie is characterized as attention seeking, open, and secretive. These character traits enhance the theme of blame on Connie herself for kidnapping because Connie seeks for attention from everyone, allowing Arnold to collapse her mentally, and is lying to her family about her outgoing. It's clear that Connie was kidnapped because of her ignorant actions to try to obtain attention and her desire to explore her sexuality.

Throughout the story Arnold's traits change, which makes him seem as though he is not who he says he is. When Arnold first arrives at Connie’s home, he acts as though they had met before. However, Connie repeatedly says, “Look, I don’t even know who you are” (654). Although Connie keeps saying this, Arnold continues to act like nothing's wrong. Later in the story he seems to break his previous character, and Connie notices. “He spoke in a simple lilting voice, exactly as if he were reciting the words to a song” (656). His mannerisms change here because he realizes Connie has figured out that something is off about him. He changes his mannerisms from being an eighteen year old friend to being an aggressive man. “She looks out to see Arnold Friend pause and then take a step toward the porch lurching. He almost fell. But, like a clever drunken man, he managed to catch his balance” (659). His illusion of being an eighteen year old drops here. Oates is able to use Arnold’s mannerisms as a symbol to contribute to the theme because he first acts one way, only to act another the next. First impressions are not always correct and they may not be as they

One may never realize the people surrounding one’s everyday life, crammed with bodies of contrasting characters, pasts’, and styles; however, who are these people genuinely? Arnold Friend, in the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates, managed to deceive with his false characteristics. Arnold Friend was brought to life from Oates’s imagination of the mischievous serial killer Charles Schmid. Arnold Friend and Charles Schmid similarly attempted to delude with false attributes, had an interest in women, deceived women, both tried to create a false imagine for themselves, however Friend knew about everything about his victim while Schmid did not.

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

such as " I toldja shut up, Ellie," and "your deaf, get a hearing aid,

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