Analysis Of Where Are You Going Where Have You Been

Lots of people like to think they are in control of everything around them, but nobody can really understand or grasp something that large. â€Å"Where are you going, Where have you been,† is a short story concerning a young girl in a rush for freedom, which she quickly regrets. The story is based in the late 60s, and the main character, Connie, is fascinated with the new rebellious trend the 70s bring. She enjoys the new fashion trends, the music, everything about it excited her. Connie always thought she had her life in control, and she never thought it would bring her the trouble it did. She is later at a crossroads, whether to sacrifice her family or herself, when everything backfires. Joyce Carol Oates, the author, was inspired by the†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"From the outset of the narrative, members of Connies family recognize their powerlessness and thus their difference from her. Her mother and sister are not attractive, so they do not really count; and her father, who spends most of his time at work, is weak.† (Urbanski 1). Connie did not look anything similar to her family, she is much prettier and has a better personality. Connie did not want to be like the rest of her family, she wanted to be better and prettier than her sister and even her mother. Her family was still in the early sixties trend, while Connie despised the way they acted and dressed. Even Connie’s taste in music pulled her further from her family. Her mother despises the way the admires herself, yet her father is not talked about much. â€Å"Connie’s father doesn’t care where she has been, and her mother, who the story implies was much like Connie when she was younger, takes only perfunctory interest in where she’s going†(Coulthard 507). Although she is always fighting with her family, she never meant for her actions to affects them in the way they did. She even clinged to them for security in her most traumatic times. While looking for Connie’s dream guy she finds somebody much worse. Arnold Friend epitomize somebody evil, like the devil. By removing all the R’s out of his Arnold Friend’s name it leaves an old fiend, which means villain. Connie knew she recognized the name, but could not figure out how. â€Å"She looked at that name,Show MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been? `` Essay929 Words   |  4 Pagesimagine a better world and becoming better people. Thoughts allow us to logically make decisions. Beliefs allow us to have hope. In Joyce Carol Oates â€Å"Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?† and in Nathaniel Hawthorne â€Å" Young Goodman Brown† the protagonists are both presented with fantasy-like situations and we see how they deal with them. In â€Å"Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?† Connie is an average everyday girl who wants to free herself from authority instead of being a little girl. In â€Å"YoungRea d MoreAnalysis Of Where Are You Going Where Have You Been1094 Words   |  5 PagesWhere are you going, Where have you been? â€Å"Where are you Going, Where Have You Been?† is a story written in 1966 by Joyce Carol Oates. It was originally published in Epoch magazine, but now it is in many short story anthologies. The story tells of a young girl named Connie, who doesn’t want to grow up, and is kidnapped by Arnold Friend one day when she is home alone. It is based on an American serial killer Charles Schmid, who lured young women to the desert where he murdered them. I first readRead MoreAnalysis Of Where Are You Going Where Have You Been1205 Words   |  5 PagesIn her short story â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† Joyce Carol Oates depicts the journey of Connie, a beautiful, mistreated, 15 year old girl yearning for attention and the loss of her innocence along the way. Oates creates this story around four murders by Charles Schmid and retells them with her own style, giving internal events the excitement, suspense, and climax normally associated with external events . Oates utilizes the demonic adversary, Arnold Friend, to awaken Connie from theRead MoreAnalysis Of Where Are You Going Where Have You Been1371 Words   |  6 Pagesthousands of years there have been many different writers, while being unique and talented in their own way. Joyce Carol Oates, the author of â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been†, is no exception. However, while writers may be talented and unique in their own way, the readers will have their own opinions about the stories. It is rare for a reader to read a story without having a critical outlook on a few of the stories elements. â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been† is a story that lacksRead MoreAnalysis Of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?977 Words   |  4 Pages A number of the stories, graphic memoirs and poems we discussed in class have introduced us to women who have been trapped in some way in their lives. Henrik Ibsen’s A Dolls House (1879) and Charlotte Perki ns Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† (1892) both demonstrate women being trapped by men in a patriarchal society in the nineteenth century. However, Joyce Carol Oates’ â€Å"Where are you going, where have you been?†(1974), Jamaica Kincaid’s short story â€Å"Girl† (1978) and Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novelRead MoreAnalysis Of Where Are You Going Where Have You Been914 Words   |  4 PagesKatie Gonzales Professor Golden November 7,2017 Essay â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† is a short story written by Joyce Carol that Oates in 1966. Oates based the short story on the well known serial killer Charles Howard Schmid, then wrote the article â€Å"Pied Piper of Tucson† by when he cruised an area in Tucson known as the Speedway in the 1960s, picking up girls.In 1985 Joyce Chopra along with her husband Tom Cole wrote the screenplay. Chopra and Oates portray several differences betweenRead MoreAnalysis Of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been 1148 Words   |  5 PagesJoyce Oats short story, â€Å" Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,† is a great read on many different levels. Oats displays the effects of youthfulness in a teenage girl named Connie. The story is a gripping story that unveils the weakness of a teenage girl. Connie could hardly validate fantasy from reality. She delights herself as a beautiful girl who understands the basic mores of life. Her need for boys attention makes her pride herself as a shinning example of beauty. Connie finds desire inRead MoreAnalysis of â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† Essay1018 Words   |  5 PagesHurst 1 Allison Hurst Professor Ben Mayo English Comp II 30 April 2011 Analysis of â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† by Joyce Carol Oates In 1966, Joyce Carol Oates published her short story â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?†. Oates was inspired to write this story after reading about a serial killer that was referred to as â€Å"The Pied Piper of Tucson†. Oates was disturbed by the number of teenagers that this killer was able to persuade to help him and keep his secretsRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Essay878 Words   |  4 PagesLiterary Analysis of, Where are you going, Where have you been By: Joyce Carol Oate’s In Joyce Carol Oate’s, â€Å"Where are you going, Where have you been†, a young teen by the name of Connie is in a stage of what appears to be rebellion. Along with many other teens, Connie’s parent’s oblivion to what she does outside of the house allows it to continue and worsen. Since Connie not being held accountable for her actions, it leads her down paths of destruction. Are Connie’s bad decisions really herRead More Critical Analysis of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?857 Words   |  4 PagesIn Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? the author, Joyce Carol Oates, essentially asserts that the nuances of ones personality are not generated from within, but rather shaped by external circumstances. This is an argument whose justification is abundantly clear in the inner conflict of Connie, the protagonist of the book. The source of that struggle is her unstable relationship with her family, which ultimately results in her identity conflict. As one who always been deprived