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

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.

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

When Connie first hears a car pulling up in her driveway, her attention is immediately directed to her hair and looks. She isn’t concerned as much about who is outside or what they want, but how see will look to them. When she initially sees Arnold she is attracted to his style and car. He is muscular in tight faded jeans and a drives a bright gold jalopy. His image is everything that Connie has fantasized about and can relate to. Arnold is even playing

In spite of the way that Connie tries to show the nearness of being a created woman who has learned about men, her involvement with Arnold reveals this is only an execution. She has made an engaging grown-up personality through her dress, hairstyle, and general direct and gets the thought she hopes for from young fellows. Regardless, Connie dumbfounds her ability to summon thought from young fellows with her longing to truly have

Her knowledge of her beauty allows her to draw attention to it from many guys of many ages. She loves the attention that she gets from these boys, and that often seduces her into the decisions that she makes. Her first encounter with Arnold Friend occurs when she is in the car with one of the boys she met, Eddie. She glances to her right and sees Arnold, in his car, staring at her. Arnold spoke with his lips to tell her “Gonna get you, baby”, and perhaps it is this threat that causes Connie to symbolize him as a jeopardy to her innocence that the reader sees in her nightmare (Oates 28).

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.

During the conversation between Connie and Arnold Friend, she experiences a dramatic moment so intense that it cannot be avoided or ignored. Her attempt was creating a sexy appearance and fascinating the boys in the local diner delivers as her experiment to analyze new fields as well as a new side of herself. However, until Arnold comes into the story, her expeditions have always been closed into security. She may go into an dark alley with a boy for a short period, but no matter what happens there,

Throughout the text, Oates shows the reader Arnold Friend’s characteristic sinister ability to draw in Connie and manipulate her through what she loves the most. The data reveals, “He lifted his friend’s arm and showed her the little transistor radio the boy was holding, and now Connie began to hear the music. It was the same program that was

“Then because she liked the way he was dressed, she does not immediately urge Arnold to leave her driveway, and she continues talking with him, thus allowing him time to create a physical space of psychological terror from which she cannot escape” (Korb 10). She shows her immaturity when she continues to talk to Arnold at the door. “He invites her to come riding with them, and Connie is mesmerized and dizzied by his incantatory words” (Barry Manni 5). The way Arnold dresses is appealing to Connie she thinks she has seen him before because he is dressed as a typical 1960s boy.

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

During this time her whole life changed. “The gravel kept crunching all the way in from the road—the driveway was long—and Connie ran to the window. It was a car she didn't know. It was an open jalopy, painted a bright gold that caught the sunlight opaquely. Her heart began to pound and her fingers snatched at her hair, checking it, and she whispered, "Christ. Christ," wondering how bad she looked.” (202) Connie had not yet realized that this boy was not a boy at all but rather a man that was going to take her regardless of her position on the matter. The boy introduced himself as Arnold Friend, and as they began talking was very nice to her but always had a hidden agenda. After trying his best to be nice and get Connie to leave with him, Arnold began getting irritated and changed to a mean person with threats towards Connie’s family if she did not go with him. Connie feared for her family and eventually gave in to

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

The author indicates in many instances that Connie is truly dreaming the meeting with Arnold Friend by illustrating the irregular sort of surroundings and music that’s present and relating it to Arnold’s appearance. Oates portrays the feelings that are surging