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Thematic Analysis Of 'Where Are You?' By Joyce Carol Oates

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In the story WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? By Joyce Carol Oates is an impeccable story. The story is so vivid and wildly written it takes you into a whole new world. When I first started reading this my whole mind when into a deep thought. I visualized myself there during every event that occurred. This is story is a definite easy read the imagery that is placed into this story is the best one yet. The theme of the story is what catches you and entitles you to continue reading. This story reminds me of how strong the power of temptation is. The level of intensity she gave the words made the words draw feelings to my soul. The temptation that went along in this book starting from being a disobedient child all the way to being one way at home another way in the streets then how it caught up with her and she couldn’t break away. …show more content…

Connie played with that spirit to such an extreme level. Connie wanted to be that girl that could do what she want and want to be free. Now her friends were no saint either they played with the same spirit, but I personally think that Connie went entirely too far with playing with it. Now growing up I always heard if you allow the devil to ride he will take over the wheel well that’s exactly what he did to Connie. Now don’t get me wrong part of it was on her parents, because her mother never stood her ground as a mother would and her father just simply went to work and did what he wanted. The common thread with parents is train a child up in the way they should go. Well, Connie never had that training she just had to learn by her mistakes. Arnold friend the guy that just wants to be your friend. HA! What a

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Carol Joyce Oates’ “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?” presents how falling into temptation leads to giving up control and innocence. Though her mother is unapproving of her actions, Connie spends her time seeking attention from male strangers. Home alone, Connie is approached by a compelling creature who convinces her to leave her life and join him on his unknown journey. Through disapproving her family, having multiple appearances, listening to music, and her desperation to receive attention from boys, Connie gives up control of herself losing the purity of adolescents and contributing to her detrimental fate. It is imperative that one should not be controlled because of a desire to impress others.

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The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” was written by the author Joyce Carol Oates in 1966. Oates describes her idea for the story after briefly reading an article about the real-life murderer, Charles Schmid, who lured and murdered three teenage girls (Kirszner & Mandell 523). She uses this idea to create the character, Arnold Friend, and his victim, Connie. Connie is a typical teenage girl portrayed as naïve and self-centered. The short story appears realistic, given that the conflict in the story is based off of real events.

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“Change starts in your thoughts”- Unknown. Change or transformation can be imagined or can be real but it still can possibly be scary to someone. Regardless what people are scared of they will still enjoy a good scare in the end. The author scares the readers through transformation in stories by the uses of elements called supernatural, death, and the unknown. Usually supernatural things have a big part in transformation.

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Where Are You Going Where Have You Been? By Joyce Carol Oates Psychoanalytic Criticism Question How are id, ego and superego represented in “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” By Joyce Carol Oates?

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Smooth Talk is slightly based on Joyce Carol Oates’ story titled “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” but isn’t as straightforward and frankly gruesome. The story focuses on the 1960’s suburbia from a teenagers perspective. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” focuses on topics relevant in the 1960’s including the Sexual Revolution. Oates’ focuses on major issues and topics such as feminism, sexual freedom, and adolescent sexuality.

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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.

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The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates is about a teenage girl named Connie who is in the mist of her adolescent rebellion. She wants to prove her maturity to others and herself. In the story, Oates describes that Connie always lets her mind flow freely in between her daydream. She even creates and keeps dreaming about her ideal male figure in her mind to make her happy and satisfied. Oates allows the reader to step into Connie’s “dream world” through the appearance of Arnold Friend.

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In Joyce Carol Oate’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, the coming of age message is to avoid living in your childhood fantasies so much that you can’t face the realities of adulthood. Connie is a fifteen years old girl who wants to act mature but constantly living in her childhood fantasies. When it comes to her craving of acting like a grown up, she goes to the Big Boy restaurant with her friends but left them behind when a boy is asking her to go out for dinner. When she gets home, she dreams that ‘the boy’ she met last night whose ‘sweet, gentle’ and just like ‘in the movies and promised in songs’(52). Sweet and gentle are being expressed as imagery to describe the boy that Connie met the night before.

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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.

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When Connie realizes that Arnold is much older than she thought, she is taken over by fear of what’s going to happen. This situation is much different than anything else she has ever

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