Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Summary

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In 1966, when Joyce Carol Oates first published her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, the readers felt a lot mixed emotions, ranging from anger to confusion. Most of the readers were not too comfortable with the context of how the main character, Connie, left with the strange and mysterious guy, Arnold Friend. The way that Joyce Carol Oates positions Connie into difficult situations throughout the story, we can tell that she is trying to tell us more than what is simply stated in the text. The situations in the story, influence the readers to dig deeper and try to understand the psychological reasons of why Connie, and many of the other characters, make the decisions that they do. After they realize the underlying psychological side of the text, then they are able to somewhat relate because of their past personal experiences as an individual. To actually understand Connie as a character, the…show more content…
The basic definition of the collective unconsciousness is a part of the unconsciousness mind that comes from ancestral memory or experience and is common to all humans, and is completely different from the individual’s unconscious. There are many archetypes under the psychological theory created by Carl Jung. All the archetypes relate back to human ancestors who first developed these certain instincts through experiences. The archetypes are seen as universal figures that can apply to most of the human population, which is why they are great elements to add into a story because they are understood by almost everyone. The incorporation of psychological theories in literature has “enabled us to have a meaningful comprehension of human being’s development and the world” (Rezaei 4). The collective unconsciousness has a prominent influence on the lives of many, who have forgotten about the symbols, yet have adopted the archetypes through their own personal
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