Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Theme Essay

Improved Essays
Many writers of movies, tv shows, etc use the same storyline or theme and many movies. Originality is something a lot of people lack. In the movie Finding Faith and the story “Where are You Going? Where Have You Been?” each story represents a young girl breaking free of the life she lives by being reckless and not listening to her parents, deciding she can make decisions on her own, and going with a strange man when she knows she shouldn’t. The story “Where are You Going? Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates is similar to the movie Finding Faith (2013) in theme, manner, and tone, such as; in each story a young girl sets out for freedom to go against her parents’ wishes after she has just had enough of them telling her what to do,
The theme in both “Where are You Going? Where Have You Been?” and Finding Faith is each story represents a young girl breaking free of the life she lives by deciding she can make decisions on her own, being reckless and not listening to her parents, and going with a strange man when she knows she shouldn’t. It is often said “Teenagers push the independence envelope, taking foolish risks, evading straight answers, or breaking rules, we often chalk it up to peer pressure, media influence,
…show more content…
Where Have You Been?” and Finding Faith have the dame storyline or manner. Both main characters in each movie are teenage girls who think they know absolutely everything. In the stories the character meet a man whom she believes is around the same age as her but is lying to her. In Finding Faith the man starts texting her and leads her to believe he is 16, only two years older than she is. The characters continue to go out with the man even though things seem off, they fall for this mysterious man, which in the end leads them to danger. Charming young men can be hook for just about any young teenage girl, in each story a “young” man tries to persuade the main character to go against all that is right and meet up with

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    These two works are prime examples for how films can often be similar to…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the short story, “No One Is a Mystery” the narrator knelt down to look at her pants after being on the car floor. She describes the dust on her jeans to a butterfly. This description gives the reader an image of a butterfly printed on her jeans made out of dust. The narrator describes it that way because the dust shape on her jeans reminds her of a butterfly. This also, tells us how unclean the car of the floor; so dusty that it took form on her jeans.…

    • 692 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Crystal is a newly single woman who has moved to a new town to try and build a different life for herself. While out at a club one night, she's approached by a stunningly beautiful model named Mica, who is also new to town. A seductive suggestion is made that turns Crystal's head, and helps her to envision a whole new world of pleasures. This short story is written to get quickly into hot action while still having believable characters and decisions. (All characters are 18 years or older, and this book is to be read by adults…

    • 99 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Adolescence is a time to explore and discover one's true self. Parents play a pivotal role during this phase of life. In the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, the main character,Connie, is transitioning from a child to a teenager. Scholar James W. Johnson’s myth of adolescence is clearly shown throughout the short story through Connie’s relationship with her family.…

    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” and “Young Goodman Brown” are two short stories, though written two eras apart in the past by two different authors, are quite similar. Both stories have many references to evil along with a revolution in the main character’s life and therefore explore common themes as well as meanings. The first similarity between “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” written by Joyce Carol Oates is an unsettling and incredibly formidable story of a young woman’s loss of innocence during a time of social change, unrest and turbulence.…

    • 1410 Words
    • 6 Pages
    • 6 Works Cited
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Everything can be connected in literature. Whether it be a romance novel and an action book or a scary movie and a short story, there is always a connection you just have to search for it. I compiled five different pieces of literature and was able to connect them in a variety of ways. Using Thomas C. Foster’s ideas of “pattern recognition” and a literary lens mentioned in the “Literary Perspective Tool Kit” packet, I was able to connect The Matrix and Dead Poets Society. I also found connections between The Catcher in the Rye, “The Flowers”, and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”…

    • 1675 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The two stories “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” and “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” are very similar when analyzing the thoughts of the characters. In one story, you have vulnerable young girl who feels trapped inside her house because of the dangers that are waiting for her beyond her doorstep. In the other, you have a vulnerable little boy who is physically and mentally trapped and scared of the things outside of his box. These 2 stories use many literary elements to demonstrate a character who is not exactly in the right state of mind.…

    • 1278 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Growing up and finding oneself is never easy, especially when outside sources pull one in various directions. Adolescence is a time where children search for their identity, to discover who they are and who they are meant to be. Many young people rebel and reject everything they are told they should do. In Paul’s Case and Two Kinds, both main characters feel pressure from others on how to live their lives. These stories examine two extremely different outcomes of the search to find oneself.…

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are not many teenagers who have been secretly kidnapped, but there are many teens who have been lied to for most of their life. Young adults and ninth grades can relate to Janie because Janie’s parents set the example of being loveable people, but they are the ones who hide the biggest secrets. In this novel Janie sees her parents as lovable and trustworthy, however as the readers, we see that her parents have lied and deceived her. Many adolescents can relate to this because no matter how nice someone may seem, they could be the best liar someone has ever met. Throughout this novel, Janie begins to question who her parents are, and how she should feel, “Why am I fine?…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There is a fine line between fantasy and reality. Though as fine as a line can be, an individual can be as easily blind with imagination. People do not want pure unadulterated fantasy, but a fantasy that incorporates themselves and what they believe of what they want. However, sometimes what they believe they want is much more complicated and darker. The same concept is exhibit as the main theme in, Joyce Carol Oates 's “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”…

    • 1312 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    which is about girls and the guys in their lives. In her story, Sharon Flake develops the characters by demonstrating the complicated relationship Raheem and the protagonist have. Flake makes it seem like the protagonist has a submissive personality when she is with her boyfriend. For example, she says “I give in, tell him what he wants to hear.” Instead of making the protagonist fight back, the author makes her give in to Raheem to please him even when he’s in the wrong.…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For centuries, folklore has defined different cultures around the world. Many of these tales have been adapted into mainstream media for children by companies such as Disney. Unsurprisingly, Disney leaves out a lot of the original stories. The fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen are meant to express topics involving the loss of innocence that young ones are not expected to know. Amidst modern literature, Joyce Carol Oates’s inserts similar connotations in her 1966 short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been.”…

    • 1202 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Susan Minot’s story titled Lust is written in first-person perspective and it revolves around the adolescent life of a 15-year-old girl as she lives in boarding school. The narrator is the girl herself, unnamed and anonymous in terms of characterization; very accurately depicting someone with low self-esteem. The story opens right away with the character introducing the boys she’s met during her time at boarding school but goes no more into depth about them than mentioning the sexual experiences they have had, such as seeing one naked for the first time or French kissing another. The readers get little, if any, description of the male characters beyond their names.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    They might also claim that the major and underlying theme remained the same throughout both stories. However, the minor details and character development is what makes this book unique. The storyline was the same in the book and movie, but the different characters emotions and physical looks help the story to progress and are vital to the underlying theme, uniqueness, and story of The…

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays