Dangers Women Face in the Literary and Real World An online survey done by Stop Street Harassment in January 2018 revealed eighty-one% of women eighteen and up have experienced a form of sexual harassment. Joyce Carol Oates wrote “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Which is a short story that spreads light on the possible dangers a woman can face. The story follows the main character Connie, and her experiences as a young woman, while being followed and found by Arnold Friend. Arnold Friend’s character is modeled after a murderer at the time who killed three highschool aged girls. In today’s age women should be cautious and aware of their surroundings because dangers can be present anywhere. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have …show more content…
As the story progresses, Arnold Friend continues to get pushier until at one point, he enters Connie's house. He comes in because Connie picks up the phone to call the police, however, before that can happen, Arnold Friend comes and attacks her. Oates describes this interaction as, “she felt her breath start jerking back and forth in her lungs as if it were something Arnold Friend was stabbing her with again and again with no tenderness. A noisy sorrowful wailing rose all about her and she was locked inside it the way she was locked inside this house” (Oates, 8). If Arnold were stabbing her with a real knife, Connie would not have been able to walk out to his car at the end of the story. However, Connie is guided out by Arnold Friend at the end of the story, so it can be inferred that the stabbing Connie feels is the action of her being raped. This follows the storyline, as earlier Arnold tries to convince her to get in the car with him, then he starts indicating sexual tendencies, which is later followed by threats when she tries to get away. After Connie experiences this horrendous act she feels as though, “She thought for the first time in her life that it was nothing that was hers, that belonged to her, but just a pounding, living thing inside this body that wasn’t really hers either” (Oates, 9). Connie displays how her life was taken from her by Friend. In an article by Schulz, the …show more content…
F. "Impure Realism: Joyce Carol Oates's Where Are You Going." Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Jeffrey W. Hunter, vol. 134, Gale, 2001. Gale Literature Criticism, link.gale.com Originally published in Where Have You Been?, in Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 28, no. 3, Summer 1991, pp. 371-375. Oates, Joyce C. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?. Rutgers UP, 1966 Quirk, Tom. A Source For “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Rutgers UP, Studies in Short Fiction, 1978. Schulz, Gretchen., and R.J.R. Rockwood In Fairyland, without a Map: Connie’s Exploration Inward in Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Rutgers UP, Studies in Short Fiction, 1978 Slimp, Stephen. "Oates's Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Short Story Criticism, edited by Joseph Palmisano, vol. 70, Gale, 2004. undefined, undefined. Originally published in The Explicator, vol. 57, no. 3, Spring 1999, pp. 179-181. Wegs, Joyce M."”Don’t You Know Who I Am?”: The Grotesque in Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Rutgers UP, Studies in Short Fiction,
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, written by Joyce Carol Oates, is a short story that takes place in a 1960’s American suburb where tight jeans and slicked back hair is the popular style. The story takes place around a young fifteen year old girl, Connie, who has family issues and enjoys going out with her friends whether it be to the mall, movies, or drive-in restaurant. At the restaurant, Connie is noticed by a man with an odd car who later finds her alone at her house and seductively forces her to come with him and leave her family. This short story demonstrates an allegory. While on the surface it seems to be just a story of a vain girl who is “voluntarily abducted”, it actually represents the temptation of death (Oats 1).
In the story Oates shows a young girl who is deceived and drawn in by a man with bad intentions. Joyce Carol Oates in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” depicts that everything that seems good isn’t always good. Where are you going, where have you been is a short story about a 15 year old girl
Approaching Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates through a feminist lens significantly contributes to the development of the themes of female vulnerability and the oppressive nature of a patriarchal society. To begin with, Oates portrays the teenage girl protagonist, Connie, as a victim of societal expectations and male objectification. Connie’s mother constantly criticizes her appearance and behaviour, reinforcing the idea that a woman’s worth lies in her conformity to traditional gender roles. This message is particularly delivered as Connie’s mother says, “Why don’t you keep your room clean like your sister?
Throughout Joyce Carol Oates’s short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” , it is evident that the main character, Connie, a teenage girl who equates her beauty to self-worth and love to the attention she receives from strangers at a local restaurant, has some issues with herself. Constantly being torn between two different locations, her home, a place where she feels trapped, worthless, and unloved by her family, and a local town, where she feels calm and secure spending time with boys and listening to music, Connie is led to confusion over who she really is and this leads to an unstable identity. In the story, Oates’s uses the literary element of setting, including both Connie’s actions and feelings and the physical descriptions of both Connie’s house and the local town, to develop both Connie’s character and the theme of self-identity,
Fantasy vs. Reality The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, explores the supernaturality, uncertainty, and the unknowing. All is shown through the display of sexual violence, deception, and vulnerability. Although, due to the supernatural aspects of the short story, there is blur between reality and fantasy. To begin, some readers may believe that Connie, the main character, actually experiences the presence of antagonists, Arnold Friend and Ellie Oscar.
Oates illustrates that the lack of a strong religious foundation leads to her to follow a path that could be considered death. When Connie escapes her home life she chooses to flee to the local dinner. The outside is described with the same reverence that might be used in the description of a temple. Conner enters the diner “pleased and expectant as if they were standing in a sacred building.”
Towards the end of the short story, the reader can begin to feel sympathy for Connie because she is in such a dangerous and awful position and chooses to make a decision that will hurt her but help her family. Connie seems to be a very ordinary and somewhat vain girl in Oates’ short story. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” , June and her mother serves as Connie’s foil. 2.
Joyce Carol Oates created a deep and intriguing story that has readers fearful to read what happens next. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" was published in 1966. Other notable works that Joyce Carol Oates has created are "With Shuddering Fall" and "The Wheel Of Love". Common themes and topics she follows are everyday characters, also psychologically and socially terrifying situations. Most of her works are written based off real life tragedies that she heard or read about in a magazine or on the news.
Home is where the heart is, but what if home is no longer safe? Joyce Carol Oates explores this concept in her 1966 short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”. On surface level, this story appears to discuss a rebellious young girl named Connie and her confrontation with Arnold Friend, a stalker. The ending leaves the reader to assume that Arnold Friend plans to sexually assault the young girl.
In the coming of age story “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates uses symbolism, conflict, and the third person to foreshadow fifteen-year-old Connie’s unfortunate, yet untimely fate. While one may think that the conflict stems from Connie’s promiscuity, it is clear to see her promiscuity is only a result to a much bigger conflict, her mother’s constant nagging and disapproval, alongside the lack of attention from her father. the author paints a vivid picture of what happens when a fifteen-year-old girl such as Connie goes elsewhere to find to find the love, attention, and approval that she lacks at home. All which is vital for her growth and wellbeing as a person.
In her short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", Joyce Carol Oates utilizes a variety of literary devices to strengthen the story in its entirety. This short story is essentially about a 16-year-old girl named Connie and the conflict between her desire to be mature and her desire to remain an adolescent. Throughout the story, the audience sees this conflict through her words in addition to through her behavior. The audience is also introduced to Arnold Friend, a rather peculiar man, who essentially kidnaps her. This short story by Joyce Carol Oates functions and is additionally meaningful because of her usage of literary devices.
The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates can be interpreted in a multitude of ways due to its ambiguity. A psychological lens, however, provides the most accurate viewpoint for analyzing the story as it clarifies certain obscure scenes and actions of Connie. One psychological issue of Connie that is easily inferred from the beginning of the story is her insecurity about her looks. Connie constantly worries about the way that she looks and takes any opportunity to do so, “craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people's faces to make sure her own was all right” (1).
Connie’s first encounter with Friend was at a diner when he stated to Connie, “Gonna get you, baby”(pg.1142). Because Connie was use to this type of attention, she did not view it as strange that an older man was calling her in such away. However, if Connie had seen Friend as dangerous instead of just another man, her kidnapping might have been prevented. Later in the story when Friend showed up as Connie’s house, she walked outside and talked to him instead of questioning how he knew where she lived or calling the police. Oates described Connie's interaction with Friend by stating,“Connie liked the way he was dressed, which was the way all of them dressed: tight faded jeans stuffed into black, scuffed boots, a belt that pulled his waist in and showed how lean he was, and a white pullover shirt that was a little soiled and showed the hard muscles of his arms and shoulders”(pg.1145).
Like most teenagers she is thinking only in the moment and what is going to please her. Basically Connie and her friend go to a restaurant and this creepy guy named Eddie came in to talk with them, obviously Connie isn’t thinking straight and she leaves the restaurant with this stranger Eddie. Leaving her friend behind. In the book she states “I just hate to leave her like that” (Oates, 391).
Where Are You Going Rudyard Kipling once said that “[if] history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Many authors leave an impressive impact on the world through their works of fiction, but when an author can craft a fiction story that contains truth, it is a work of genius. This method allows people to retain the knowledge easier, and allows the impact to be lasting. This is just what Joyce Carol Oates did in her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by using parallelism, allegories, and symbolism. Joyce lived a modest life with her parents and two siblings in Lockport New York.