A strange and stalker wanders up to a fifteen year old girls house, trying to convince her to come along for a ride. The girl does not want to go, and knows it can only end in doom.
Temptation is a part of the evil. “‘Now, these numbers are a secret code, honey,’ Arnold Friend explained. He read off the numbers 33, 19, 17 and raised his eyebrows at her to see what she thought of that, but she didn't think much of it.” Many people believe this story relates to religious beliefs. Religious people are very certain that one of the main characters, is portrayed as the devil, although Oates does not elaborate on this. The numbers used can be a secret code. If you look in the bible the thirty third book of the old testament is Judges, chapter
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Oates illustrates the female main character as attention seeking. The main character does not act her age, she tries to be mature. When the fiend comes around she realizes she is not as mature as she believed. When she figures out no one is going to be able to save her, she realizes how much of a child she actually is. Oates shows how Connie has two sides of herself. When she is around her friends, her appearance and attitude is different than when she is home with her family. She attracts the wrong men with her attitude. She is fearful to actually become an adult. Arnold may be a strange man or he may be a nightmare that she has day dreamed. The main character’s life mainly revolves around men.
Death of herself or death of her emotions. Even if the main character gets past this and is not murdered, she will be emotionally scarred. Oates advances to a point in the story, where Arnold knows so much about her family she will never feel safe. He knows random details about their lives. Arnold is Connie’s future whether she likes it or not. Oates does not give any escape route for the main characters. We know from early own there will be a bad ending. Believing she must go with the bad guy to protect her family, because Oates composes her into being a decent person who realizes she treated her family
Nothing Is Ever As It Seems Looks can be deceiving, weather they are the cover of a book or the appearance of men and women . In some cases society and the world around us can be misleading. Between Clarisse’s outgoing personality and Mildred’s fear of change Guy Montag is set up to make a choice to go against a society that is largely misguided. Clarisse and Mildred are important to Montag’s life because Clarisse is incredibly interactive towards Guy and open his eyes to see the wrong, his wife, on the other hand, begs montag to keep things the way they are. Clarisse had her strange ways to interpret how society has formed over the years to lessen any confusing matters; although it was often that her strange ways in the category of being antisocial.
The short story doesn’t give us much background on the characters; so their names tell the rest of their story. First off, Connie, the main character, has a very subtle, and somewhat controversial, hidden meaning. From my perspective, Oates named her Connie due to the fact that she always conjures up something. When she’s at home, she often conjures up conflict concerning her mom and sister. She does not do her chores, unlike her perfect sister, who always does her’s; she gawks at herself in the mirror, much to her mother’s disapproval; and she is filled with “trashy daydreams” that have done wonders to corrupt her mind.
Oates includes places such as malls and drive-in restaurants to emphasis the trend of the time. Going to strip malls and listening to pop music became very popular among youth during along with the sexual revolution, which challenged traditional behavior related to sexuality and relationships throughout the United States. At the beginning of the story, Connie is thrilled that she is pretty enough to reject a boy from their high school, which implies that if she were not as pretty, she would not have the same power. Also, early in the story when talking to her mom Connie separates herself from the other girls that are mixed in with “that dope”. She goes on to explain that her mom is so simple and plain to believe it, meaning that she probably has had some sort of experience with it, which is yet another side to her rebellious nature (“Where Are You Going Where Have You Been”, par. ).
Arnold Friend was there to take Connie away; away from her childhood and home, which never quite felt like home until her fantasy world deteriorated and reality set it. The next moment is pivotal, this is when Connie forgets her hedonism and becomes something of much more substance. Before Connie studies Arnold Friend’s abnormal personality and erratic behavior she is fascinated by him and even worries that she is ill prepared for this
However, this is countered when Connie notes that “he was much older—thirty, maybe more” (315), a fact that frightens her. What Arnold is to Connie is a challenge of her want to be an adult, and a trail of her ability to deal with adult issue. Such as a man who singles her out sexual reason. Her wish to be an adult is something she seeks while passively avoiding it. Her avoidance is marked by day dreams of puppy love romance, like a typical teenager; yet, her attractive flaunt to be mature is presented as if she seeks to be an
That also made her become more vulnerable to the real dangers and the evilness that exists in the world. That danger was represented by an old man who pretends to be an eighteen year old boy that seduced and kidnaped Connie. The end of the story Joyce Carol Oates leaves it open to the readers, because that way it makes the reader think of what might have happened, whether she got raped or whether she is killed, after the main character leaves with the antagonist of the story. Oates shows that ignorance, narcissism and the lack of
Through characterization and vilification, Joyce Carol Oates emphasizes both the wickedness and vulnerability of her female characters. Although Oates’s writing is predominantly seen as feministic or through a feminist lens, Oates says she is "very sympathetic with most of the aims of feminism, but cannot write feminist literature because it is too narrow, too limited” (Chell). While Oates may not directly say she writes feministic literature, the topics she writes about include the recognition of the difficulties specific to a female writer according to Chell. In many of her novels, her writing can actually be seen as both feminist and antifeminist due to her use of diction and characterization.
Connie uses her attitude and appearance to attract boys. But she is not aware of the reality of the society in which she lives. Connie is living in a fantasy world, but when she gets trapped by Arnold Friend she is put into a scary reality. There
A lot of clues in the story hinted that Arnold Friend wasn’t a friend at all, but was a demon that came to take Connie away. When Arnold Friend was first introduced, Connie kept an uneasy feeling about him and felt intrigued by his presence. For example, Arnold immediately starts to ask Connie if she wants to come for a ride. (Oates 1012). Arnold seems to add pressure to Connie from the start and is obviously not there just to take her for a ride.
This interpretation of the story explains how Connie simply fell prey to the common theme of men acting as predators in society. Therefore, Connie had no say in her fate, so she just decided to go quietly with him. However, this theory completely disregards the psychological disorders that Connie has. Connie did not go quietly with Arnold because he was a dominating male. Instead, Connie left due to her numerous unconscious mental problems.
“But now her looks were gone and that was why she was always after Connie.” (Oates ). Also, there is another opportunity for friendship within the family, between Connie and her sister, however, that is lost in their rivalry and hostility. “Her sister was so plain and chunky and steady that Connie had to hear her praised all the time – by her mother and her mother's sisters.” ( ).
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.
Not only had Connie given up all the physical things she owned, but also her own free will to Arnold. She gave up everything she had available to her, a feat that could only be accomplished by a passive victim. A noble heroine wouldn’t submit herself to someone as easily as Connie
Essay #2 Parents play a very important role in the lives of their children. If parents do it in the right way, it positively impacts children’s mental and emotional condition. One of the main characters from the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie, does not have that kind of relationships with her parents, with who she can share her thoughts or who to get a good advice from. The main reason of all Connie’s mental and emotional problems is that her parents do not play a good role model for her and compare with the older sister. Being parents is far more than just providing children with food and clothes.
A classic film, Gran Torino, which was released on December 12, 2008 and directed by award winning director Clint Eastwood, displays an emotional yet drama filled story based in the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan, in a rundown town. This film shows a multiplicity of similarities to a short story written by author Joyce Carol Oates in the year 1996 titled, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? This short story primarily focuses on a 15-year-old girl named Connie who is obsessed with herself and her appearance. One day Connie finds herself in a less than pleasing situation after a man that she does not know very well, named Arnold Friend, shows up to her home and pressures her into leaving with him; which she complies to leave everything behind in order to protect her family from any harm. The film