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Analysis Of Joyce Carol Oates 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'

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Everyone experiences transitions in their lives. Sometimes these changes are insignificant, like a change in schools. Sometimes these can be major life changing events, like the passage from childhood to adulthood. In Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, the author uses a borderline crime story to investigate a loss of innocence and the unknown future. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" consists of two main focus scenes: the world Connie thrives in and the day everything in it changes. The story begins by introducing the reader to Connie (the protagonist's) world. The story is written in limited omniscient point of view in the third person. The reader is allowed into the private thoughts of Connie only, …show more content…
. . initiation" (Winslow 238). Somehow Friend is "the answer to Connie's unuttered call and to her erotic desires" (Tierce and Crafton 724). But reducing the story to a tale of mere sexuality is an oversimplification that denies the true power of the piece. Analysts contend that the numbers on Friend's car "add up to 69" (Winslow 239), and his verbal threat to her "is explicitly sexual" (Winslow 239) in nature. Yet these numbers could mean anything; they could be the age of himself and his victims, they could be a secret code only he knows. The numbers are not definitively sexual. Friend's threat to Connie is, on the very basic surface, sexual. But his imposition on her goes far deeper than that. The story is not about Connie's innocence only in terms of sexual matters, although that is a part of it. It is about Connie's youthful incompetence of all things in life. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" deals with Connie's interaction with life in all its facets. Consequently, Friend's invasion of Connie's world is not a purely sexual one, although it does simplify the story to say so. Friend invades her home property and threatens her family and illusion of love and life. Her house becomes, as a result of Friend's appearance, "nothing but a …show more content…
Oates uses Connie to tell of the innocence and fantasies of youth and how they end in such a brief instant. This is the use of a well-known cliche that is not always true in all cases. Not all youths have naive fantasies and false illusions about the world. For example, many children in rough cities learn at a very young age that life cannot afford you daydreams, and that the world is a tough, unsafe place. Their youth is based in reality. Also, not all people experience a defining moment when their past is behind them and the future is ahead. For some people, the transition between youth and future is a gradual process, moving so slowly that one particular minute cannot be appropriately designated as more crucial than the others. This fallacy, while not completely rendering her message invalid, nonetheless constrains the credibility of her

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