The fictional story “where are you going where have you been” by Joyce Carol Oates follows the life of Connie. Connie is a young 15-year-old girl. Like most girls, she was very self-conscious. Not because she didn’t think she was pretty but because she always wanted to make sure others thought she was. “She was fifteen and she had a quick, nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right” (Oates, 157) She loved going out with friends to hang out with older teenagers. Connie and her friends loved the feeling of getting attention, but what they loved most was feeling in control of the attention. If a boy tried talking to them their favorite thing was to turn away and ignore him. Soon enough she would meet someone that she couldn’t just turn away and giggle about. Connie falls prey to the sexual predator Arnold Friend. She was an innocent girl in the begging of the story, but that all changed after she met Mr. Friend. His spine chilling methods of seduction and persuasion were just a few of his creepy features. He used this in addition to scare tactics to convince Connie to leave with him. Oates clearly shows how Arnold Friend selected Connie as his victim, seduced her, and ultimately persuaded her to leave with him.
Arnold Friend was a predator but was not dumb in his selection of Connie. Although Connie had no knowledge of who Mr. Friend was, he knew all about her. The first time she met him
how Arnold Friend sees her and does not realize that she cannot see him or his motives. Arnold
Arnold suggests having intercourse or raping her in order to get Connie to love him. Arnold is trying to win over Connie’s love by raping her. Thus, Arnold has the motive because he wants to win over Connie’s love. To conclude, In “Where are you going, where have you been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, Arnold Friend should be convicted for the rape of Connie.
Everyone is perceived differently, and the way that people are perceived is caused by a variety of factors. People judge people based off of their actions, their words and their background. In Joyce Carol Oates’s short story, “Where Are you Going, Where Have You Been?” the main character Connie is perceived to be very vulnerable to Arnold Friend, who ends up becoming her kidnapper. Arnold Friend sees Connie as a young, attractive fifteen year old girl who is an easy target. Connie is such an easy target for Arnold Friend because she is always looking for attention from older boys. Arnold takes notice of this and starts stalking Connie, trying to figure out how to get to her. Arnold stalks Connie without her even noticing because she
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
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 story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” Connie, the main character, is already struggling with many things in life and sneaks her way to date guys. There was also conflicting between her and her mother due to her mother favoring her sister, June and describing her as someone who is a good example of what she wants Connie to be. Her father is never at home due to work and when he is home, the girls do not relate to him. Arnold Friend is described as a dangerous figure with his pale complexion and his slick black hair looking like trouble by not presenting himself in a pleasing way to Connie, by not walking properly. This was an indication on how he was not in the right state of mind and how Arnold shouldn’t be near Connie. There was one scene in the story where Arnold Friend shows up, uninvited, notifying Connie that he is not a friend, but has come to take her away from her home to possibly kidnap her. "Connie felt a wave of dizziness, rise in her at this sight and she stared at him as if waiting for something to change the shock of the moment, make it alright again”. Connie feels safe in the house and does not come out until Arnold convinces and demands her that she come out. Things took an unpleasant twist when Arnold tells Connie not use the phone or he will break his promise of not coming in the house
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 interaction between Connie and Friend start when Friend shows up to Connie’s house uninvited. The author Oates states “After a while she heard a car coming up the drive. She sat up at once, startled, because it couldn't be her father so soon. . . It was a car she didn't know,” (qtd. Oates. pg.2) Connie’s first reaction was to evaluate how good she looked instead of finding out whether Friend was somebody she knew or not. When they finally come face to face, she was met with flirtatious small talk from Friend, who exclaimed “Don’tcha like my car? New paint job,… You're cute” (qtd. Oates. pg.3) Connie is in awe of his faded pants and his huge black dark boots and actually considers getting in the car as he requested. The awe of the mysterious however, rapidly shifted as he makes demands and threats due to Connie’s refusal to get in the car with him. Alarmed, Connie tries to put a call. Arnold request that she come out of the house and if she doesn't comply to his demands she and her family are going to “get it”. Slowly, Connie begins to realize that there's something off about Arnold Friend. He looks to be wearing a wig, and he's
“where are you going, where have you been” by Joyce Carol Oates is a short story about a teenage girl named Connie. She lives a fairly normal life but then one evening she gets caught up with suspicious man who doesn’t want to leave her alone. The man who goes by the name “Arnold Friend” drives into Connie’s driveway, and after some very brief small talk he tries to coerce her into going on a date with him. the mood swiftly goes from uncomfortable to sinister.
Before we can analyze Connie’s interaction with Arnold Friend, we must first look at how immaturity affects her behavior on a daily basis. Since she is only able to focus on her social status, Connie often acts vain. She is consistently glancing back at her reflection to make sure is still pretty. She wants to remain young and beautiful, two qualities that are important to her. This demonstrates her immaturity by illustrating how she is afraid to become an adult. As Connie turns to check her appearance in every mirror, she is looking back into the past rather than the future. She is
“Nothing about Arnold Friend is genuine, except his violent intentions and his skill at psychological and physical intimidation. By the story’s end, Connie understands that she is not the confident flirt she thought, but a powerless pawn in the hands of a dangerous individual.” (Cormier)
In Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Where are you going, where have you been?” a fifteen year old, Connie, is venturing to find herself on the way to independence and thereby adulthood. Ever curious about boys and sex, she was often out with friends at a shopping mall or restaurant vying for attention with her striking looks. Until one afternoon, a devious man called Arnold Friend pulled up in her driveway seducing and threatening her to come out of the house and ride away with him. However straightforward this may seem, Oates writes this story in a way that leaves room for several possible interpretations of the characters and dialogues in regard to the whole message in her work.
such as " I toldja shut up, Ellie," and "your deaf, get a hearing aid,
One of the more strange things of this story is when Arnold sees Connie after the movie theatre, he says that he knew she was the one for him and he wants Connie so badly. Arnold Friend eventually becomes more threatening and if Connie does not listen to him, he will do something absolutely terrible to her family when they arrive back home after their barbeque. Connie is frightened. She runs to grab the telephone from the front door. In this short time frame, something terrible happens. Connie starts to sweat profusely, she sweats and screams for her mother because she needs help. She eventually ends up sitting on the floor absolutely terrified, shocked and even stunned. All of what Arnold Friend does is just flat out creepy, sketchy and even frightening.
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.