Joyce Carol Oates is an American writer who has published over forty novels. Most of her novels are graphic and many of them depict death. In her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Oates tells the story of Connie, a fifteen year old girl. Like in many of her previous novels Connie dies, or the reader is led to believe she does. Oates was inspired by Bob Dylan’s song “ It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”, Charles Schmid, and from the book of Judges chapter 19 verse 17 in the Bible.
In “Where are you going, where have you been.” By Joyce Carol Oates there is a twist in events when they introduce the antagonist. The character Arnold Friend was a creepy character in this short story, although he didn’t show any sign of violence his tone of voice did how serious he was. Some may compare Arnold Friend to the devil or Satan, they have some similarities. The way Arnold knows all these details about her and the way he tries to get into her head is vaguely familiar to the way the devil
strong, aggressive, and controlling. Women are portrayed as passive, and nurturing. Both “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates and “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” by Ernest Hemingway, focus on the gender roles in society. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates takes place during the time period where men, and women roles are being questioned. The story explores the repressive attitude towards sexuality, as well as violence toward women.
Hawthorne and "Where are you going , Where have you been?" by Joyce Carol Oates both present a common allegory . Between the two stories , both of the characters were revealed to the nature of evil. This unveils the common allegory , the loss of innocence. Connie is a young beautiful girl who wants to grow up and experience the adult freedoms. for example, in " Where are you going..." Oates writes ," Sometimes they did go shopping , but sometimes they went across the highway , where the older kids
Joyce Carol Oates is a prolific author of works in Literature, Film, Poetry and Stage. Her most famous short story, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, has been studied for decades by critics whom theories on the story, and by extension it's ending, range from religious, fantastic, dreamlike to unflinching realistic. The story itself, which details the activities of an teenage girl and her horrifying encounter with dangerous strangers, showcases a trademark in Oates stories of violence and
Joyce Carol Oate’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” expresses multiple themes throughout its story. These themes that are presented and are the most abundant in Oate’s short story are, fantasy versus reality, independence, and absence of authority. All of these themes contribute to the story about a young girl who is exploring herself and her body, in the hopes of finding her true independence as a woman. Her curiosity is what eventually leads her to a negative time in her life, a time
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates uses characterization to illustrate the difficulties of coming to terms with adult sexuality. Throughout this short story, it is interpreted that Connie is living a double life. To begin with, “Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home” can imply her efforts to be rebellious and go against her parents’ wishes (Oates 627). Connie longed to feel mature and grown
the situation Connie, from the story “Where are you going, Where have you been” by Joyce Carol Oates, becomes associated with. The story features a young female struggling with personal “demons” caused by her encounter with a “devilish” antagonist. Connie, who lives in her own fantasy world, is thrown for a curveball after being trapped by Arnold Friend, the “devilish” antagonist. Her protective, fantasied world comes to an abrupt stop. Textual elements in the story reflect upon the theme of fantasy
In the short stories “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “where are you going where have you been” by Joyce Carol Oates two clean handed people, two unsullied souls, polluted by evil influences of the devil himself. They stray from their path of pureness, down a path of darkness stripping themselves of their innocence.Both authors use figurative language to portray the stories meaning; one of Nathaniel's Hawthornes and Joyce Carol Oates main figurative devices was Imagery and Symbolism
In Joyce Carol Oates "where Are You Going Where Have You Been?" the reader is left with a chilling feeling as they read it's haunting content. In this short story the theme of fantasy vs. reality is explored through the protagonist Connie's journey of self realization as she leaves behind her naive self. Though the story follows Connie closely the third person omniscient point of view allows for a more developed story. Throughout the story Connie is portrayed as a naive young girl, around fifteen