...Joyce Carol Oates's "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" explores the psychological and physical complexities of growing up in 1950’s America through the eyes of fifteen year old Connie. While many themes were explored, two of the most prevalent are fate versus free will and the loss of innocence, which are intricately intertwined throughout the text. Arnold Friend joins the story as a disturbing force that challenges Connie's sense of self and safety, highlighting the often unspoken vulnerabilities that accompany the transition from childhood to adulthood. At the beginning of the story, Connie seemed to believe that she had complete control over her life. She could sneak around, hang out with whomever she wanted, all while dodging any...
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...place or thing that is sending this sign. In the short story, "Where have you been, where are you going?" By Joan Carol Oates, Connie is the main character. Connie seems to con herself, for example, she met a guy named Arnold Friend at a restaurant and he shows up at her house one Sunday afternoon. Connie at first does not know who it is and then once she realizes who it is, she does not go straight out of the door with him, it takes her a while to actually goes off with him. “She pretended to fidget, chasing flies away from the door” (208). Her(Connie) name goes along with her personality great and this situation. Where they first met, the restaurant is shaped like an old church and the background music is like that of a church sermon (206). The author uses this as a sign from God to Connie to warn her about Arnold but she does not realize it. It does not even dong on her that what’s really going on. In reality, Arnold is trying to figure out who Connie really is. Later on, Oates describes how Arnold is dressed with great detail. A mask, dark clothes, and items stuffed into his boots to make him look taller. The way he is describing, it’s a little weird and creepy. “Tight faded jeans stuffed into black scuffed boots, a belt that pulled his waist in…”(208). I believe that Arnold is some sort of the devil, Satan. In the text, on page 208, it talks of the way he tries to con Connie into coming with her. “ You wanta come for a ride?, don’tcha like my car? New paint job.”...
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...Religion is an important part of people’s lives. There are many different types of religions, which each believe in different things. While each religion might be different in terms of beliefs, they each have something in common; they all have religious morals. Each religion has instructions on how to live life. For example, the Christian Bible says to “love thy neighbor.” This is one of the many instructions the Bible has. All religions have similar lessons, such as not stealing or helping people in need. These morals help people become good people and create a better society. However, some people don’t have any religious morals. One story that brings attention to this is the story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?’ by Joyce Carol...
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...Teenagers are at an awkward stage where they are treated like children but supposed to act like adults. Many teens are sheltered while growing up, and go through a kind of culture shock, not unlike the protagonist Connie [Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”] goes through. These are often times in a young adult’s life where he or she tries to figure out the future and his or her place there. These teens can get every stressed an overwhelmed they don’t know as much as they once thought. Independence and the sudden realization of growing up can be startling for many teenagers. Like many teenagers, Connie feels a need to be independent. One of the things she hates most is her mother comparing her and her...
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...How many young girls do you know who have had their innocence taken from them? A fifteen year old girl named Connie is forced to grow up entirely too fast by a man named Arnold Friend. Without meaning any harm, she flaunts herself around town acting like a mature woman, showing the world she thinks she ready to grow up. Joyce Carol Oates’s short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” illustrates how evil and manipulative one man is to a not so innocent Connie. Although Connie thinks she wants her independence as a woman, Arnold Friend, who is not who he seems to be, destroys her youthful innocence and introduces her to a world of evil. Connie begins to find independence in her appearance. She is constantly admiring herself in the mirror and being scolded for it by her mother. She tries to make herself sexually attractive in search of her own independence (SparkNotes Web). Connie goes out with her friends and flaunts her beauty and body, making herself look interested in older men; she thinks she is doing no harm when she is flirting. Like most teenagers, Connie wants to express her independence by going places alone with her friends. Being only fifteen, she is not able to drive, so she is dependent on the older people in her life. Connie is resentful of not having her full independence, but her family and friends constitute as the only life she knows. While Connie believes she is only making herself look older in order to appear beautiful, she is actually luring an...
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...“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Summary In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” author Joyce Carol Oates presents the main character a fifteen year old girl named Connie who’s life is all about being pretty. Connie all ways casted two sides to herself. Her appearance and mannerisms would be displayed one way at home with her family, and entirely different when she was not. Often Connie and her friends would go to a shopping plaza, although they would wander across to a drive-in restaurant, which was a hangout for many of the adolescents. There one night Connie caught the eye of a boy with black hair in a gold convertible. The next day Connie was home alone, while her family was at a barbeque when she heard someone pulling into her driveway. She looked out the window to find that it was the boy with the black hair and gold convertible, which she had seen the prior night. She went to the screen door where the black hair boy approached her. He introduced himself as Arnold Friend and invites her to go for a ride. She replies no and Arnold starts to reveal that he knows much more about Connie than she is aware of. After conversing for a moment she realizes he is much older and steps back shutting the screen door. Arnold keeps suggesting that she step outside and go on a ride with him; however, Connie keeps insisting he leaves or she will call the police. She runs to the back room and picks up the phone, but is overcome with terror. She hangs up...
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...Symbolism of “Screen Door” “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, is packed with symbols that are very important to the meaning of the short story. There are several important symbols in the story that eventually leads up to Connie’s decision to give herself to Arnold. One of the crucial symbols in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is the screen door of Connie’s house. The screen door symbolizes Connie's transition from a teenager to a mature woman that is accepting her fate. Throughout the story Connie is scared to open the door and go outside, the closest she gets is when the boys first pull up and she “hung[s] out the screen door, [with] her toes curling down off the step” (Oates 508). Connie knows that Arnold won’t come in the house because he tells her several times, “I’m not coming in that house after you” (Oates 513). So in a way she feels comforted by the screen door that is separating them. The screen door is a boundary between Connie and Arnold, Connie stands inside the house as Arnold stands on the front porch with his arms open. If Connie opens the screen door to go out with Arnold she is excepting her fate but if she keeps the screen door shut and stays inside, she remains the fearful young teenager who is not ready to leave. By the end of the story Connie has made up her mind, “She put her hand against the screen door. She watched herself push the door slowly open as if she were safe back somewhere in the other doorway,...
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...Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? In the story “Where are you going, where have you been” by Joyce Oates is about a beautiful young girl, Connie, that is trying to grow up too fast. She obsesses over her looks, friends, music, and day dreams about boys all day. She gets great pleasure in the fact that many boys of all ages find her very attractive. This though gets her in a lot of trouble with a boy name Arnold. This boy puts on a fake façade to get Connie to come to him. He manipulates her and deceives her. Arnold friend could also be interpreted as “Arch fiend” suggesting that he may be the devil. Many things that the author Joyce suggest leads the reader to believe that he may be the devil. For one his pale skin and his hair is wild, almost as though he is wearing a wig and hiding some horns underneath. When he walks he wobbles almost suggesting that he may have hooves as feet, just like the devil. Demon or not, however, his strangely mismatched appearance adds to the threatening quality of his calm voice and seemingly gentle coaxing as he tries to convince Connie to come outside. Connie at first is strangely attracted to Arnold in a very dangerous way. He is a very attractive, sexy older man that is showing some interest in her. He is also very alluring to her. Something about him keeps her interested. He offers to take her away from her very unhappy life and give her a better one in a field with flowers and sunshine. Soon though he beings to make threats and demands...
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...Where Are You From Shyness, fear, anger, and even hatred are feelings people have about the unknown. The best way to overcome these feeling is to learn about the thing that causes them. There are too many people in this world that hate based the color of one’s skin or the beliefs of a particular culture. In 1657 John Amos Comenius wrote, “We are all citizens of one world, we are all of one blood. To hate a man because he was born in another country, because he speaks a different language, or because he takes a different view on this subject or that, is a great folly.” (Nutbrown, 2008) Over 350 years ago someone had the foresight to put this in words, yet people of these modern times still struggle to see it the significance of these two sentences. In the first sentence of Comenius’ quote is easy to understand. If it were easy to jump on a spacecraft, leave the earth, and look at it from a distance, most people would see that the earth is just a tiny speck in giant sea of floating rocks. So, why is there hate among brothers and sisters of the same planet? Why is it difficult to get along with others because they come from a different piece of the same rock? If it came down to another life form from another big rock attacking, would people band together to protect what is theirs? Life on this rock had to start somewhere. Whether it was a big bang or an evolution of life, everyone on this rock came from the same source of life. The second sentence of Comenius’ quote...
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...their hardest to seem much older and act in such ways that their innocence is lost. Often seen wearing skimpy outfits, teenagers convey a point to make men put their eyes upon them. In the short story “Where are you going, Where have you been?” Oates uses religious symbolism to show the end of innocence. “Where are you going, Where have you been?” opens with the physical description of fifteen-year old Connie. She is very beautiful and often checks herself in the mirror to reassure her beauty. Her mother disapproves of this habit and often scolds her about it. This habit of hers indicates that she is insecure and depends solely on her beauty for people...
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...Experts say that teenagers have more difficulty controlling their impulse. Teenagers think that they can do what they want when they want,and when they are being impulsive they end up making bad decisions In the story where are you going,Where have you been by Joyce Carol Oates ,and Greasy Lake by T.C.Boyle teenages make bad decisions.In addition,In the story “I’m going to call the police “Teenagers make poor choices like Connie. Connie had a chance to call the police on Arnold friend but even though she had a chance to call the police she didn’t. Connie said “who the hell do you think you are?”Connie said ,Teenagers make poor choice because why would a person thinking logically even entertain the conversation to begin with being as though she doesn’t know him and he came to her...
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...In the short story, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?, Carol Oates symbolizes Arnold Friend as representing the devil who comes to lure Connie away to her home. In the story, Arnold Friend portrays similar characteristics a demon would have; such as, his height, looking ageless, and having a fake appearance. The devil, known for pretending to be someone who he isn’t to lure people in, Arnold Friend does this perfectly by driving up in a flashy car, “ It was an open jalopy, painted a bright gold that caught the sunlight opaquely. Her heart pounds and her fingers snatch at her hair, checking it, and she whispers, "Christ. Christ," wondering how bad she looked”(2), and caking on makeup, “His whole face was a mask, she thought wildly,...
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...experiences we have heavily impact the people we turn out to be. But because we all have different lives, it can be hard to fully understand those who have had one unlike yours. You will not always get an opportunity to speak to those vastly different from you, which means stories can be one of the best ways to understand them. Through books and varying types of literature, thousands of people’s stories can be told and consumed to help us better grasp other people’s lives. Stories can also help us understand our own experiences better and put words to what we are feeling. In “Facing It”, we see a veteran experience grief and guilt while at a memorial for his fellow soldiers who passed away in the war. It gives us insight into what veterans go through and how they exist in our world. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” we follow Connie, a...
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...such as a light wave, away from a boundary the wave encounters” (dictionary.com). However, in literature, waves can represent so much more. The reflection of ones self can be a representation of not only their physical appearance, but their spiritual appearance, emotional appearance, and interior appearance as well. Although some reflections show distortion, many reflections actually display a brutally honest picture. Through the repetition of various types of reflection, Oates is able to paint a vivid image of the innermost being of her characters, as well as offering insight on the reality of society during the 1960s and even the reality of our society today. The repetition of sunglasses used throughout the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” may serve to highlight the hidden feelings of insecurity within the characters. This insecurity can be seen as Oates writes, “Both boys wore sunglasses. The driver’s glasses were metallic and mirrored everything in miniature.” This observation made by Connie claims that everything that she is able to see within the reflection is small, which may also include herself. In society being small is often associated with a sense of inferiority; therefore, the “miniature” reflection described by Connie may be symbolism for her insecurity. This same insecurity may be reflected as Oates writes “Connie blushed a little, because the glasses made it impossible or her to see just what this boy was looking at.” This action from...
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...Throughout the history of the world, society has been plagued by periods of extreme brutality and disorder, and it is often difficult to come to terms with what happened. All forms of literature, from novels to short stories to poems, can offer a way to understand those kinds of atrocities in which people may not be familiar or able to come to terms, by presenting a coping mechanism that is relatable. Examples of how literature allows society to accept the violence and oppression that surrounds them can be found in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Since both stories contain events that seem cruel and horrifying, readers can analyze the actions of the “villain” and make connections to the real world and relate it to the horrors of everyday life....
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