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

In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates we the readers see the conflict of a teenage, conceited, superficial girl when faced with a situation that brings her to an entire new understanding of life. We see Connie in the beginning without a care in the world other than looking good for the next guy she will hook up with. Oates explains, “She was fifteen and she had a quick, nervous giggling habit or craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right” (Oates Web). I really enjoy Oates’s expression of how strong Connie’s arrogance is, especially because this totally changes by the end of the story. By the end of the story Connie is way less selfish and more aware

boys to live out her childish delusions of romance and allows herself to be swept away by this

In “Where you going ,Where have you been” “The Lottery and “A good Man is hard to find “ by Joyce Carol Oates , Shirley Jackson and Flannery O'connor try to convey that safety/security of others is put into danger when someone who abuses their power attacks them by using Diction , and Visual Imagery .

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

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.

Yet, she tries and find ways to remember like the good days and reconnect with her daughter in certain scenes. In other scenes Connie's mother is just at Connie's neck sometimes for no reason. They are painting the house and it brings back old memories. Connie and her mom have a moment and her mom tries to give her a hug but Connie pushes it away. Her mom gets upset because she knows if it was anyone else she would have hugged them. Her daughter did not seem to care ethier. Arnold is weird and vicious. She is just a teenage girl and has the same attitude. Arnold is still a creep that wants Connie to be his. He tries to lure her in. The character in both the book and story have the same emotion. The theme in both are the same yet showed differently. They are both based on the same concept

Not every story is 100% original. Many stories are inspired by older stories, fairy tales, archetypes, real life events, etc. There are thousands of stories in the world, so newer stories will likely be like at least a few of them. One such story is “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates. In this story, a man who calls himself Arnold Friend tries to victimize another character, who is a 15-year-old girl named Connie. The inspiration for this story is clear. Arnold Friend is very similar to The Big Bad Wolf from 2 different fairy tales, “The Three Little Pigs,” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” for various reasons, including threats, acting, and disguises. Evidence of this is interspersed throughout the story.

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been is a short story originally written by Joyce Carol Oates. It was first published in 1996 and immediately faced sufficient criticism and public discussions. This story involves both surreal myth and deep psychological realism which obviously distinguish this writing among other works of the author. In the center of the narration is a young girl named Connie. She is fifteen years old and is experiencing quite a turbulent period of her life. Her mother constantly compares her to her older sister and this factor only intensifies Connie's feeling that her mother does not understand her. In the story, the world of Connie is quite contradictory as well as her character itself. Nevertheless, it remains interesting to explore until the very last page of Oates' writing.

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.

The abduction of Persephone through Hades mirrors that of Arnold Friend. Joyce Carol Oates, Author of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is a short story with themes that consist of search for self as well as identity. Through the use of imagery, dialogue, and characterization Oates displays similarities between the Greek myth, “Persephone and Demeter” to “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”.

In the same vein, narcissism is another trait that characterizes Connie’s attitude. She obviously has the sophisticated mind-set of a young lady that she pretends to be although she is only an adolescent. It is easy to detect through the story that the protagonist Connie spends all her time acting and protecting her ego. So many passages illustrate that point of view. Connie is a two faced adolescent. She presents to the exterior world the image of a modest and well behaved girl whereas she has in her the hidden quality of sexual flirtation. To describe Connie, Oates mentions, ‘’Connie had long dark hair that drew anyone’s eye to it, and she wore part of it pulled up on her head and puffed out and the rest of it she left fall down her back. She wore a pull-over jersey blouse that looked one way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home’’

In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates, a young girl named Connie is testing the limits of the freedom granted to her by her parents. She spends her summer by hanging out with her girlfriends, and finding different boys at a restaurant across the street instead of walking around the mall with her friends. Oates shows in many examples how a naive Connie is taken advantage of by a man preying on her young and carefree mind, and transitions the main character from a carefree youth to a scared young woman being cheated by life and forced to grow up and understand the world and it’s unfairness more.

At first, Joyce Carol Oates, “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been”, seems to be the story of a typical teenage girl, obsessed with boys, fighting for independence, and exploring her sexual identity. Far from typical, as the story unfolds, the reader realizes that this is not the story of teenage rebellion, but instead, is the story of a young woman who, in an effort to validate her self-worth, finds herself on a collision course with disaster. In the very first paragraph, we meet Connie, who admits that she is preoccupied with her looks. She declares that she knows she is pretty, and that being pretty is “everything” (Oates 1). We meet Connie’s mother, who, in her constant criticism of Connie, seems intent of stripping her of any vestige of self-worth.

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,