Literary Devices In Where Are You Going Where Have You Been

In the short story social and cultural values decline during the 1960s can be seen through, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates, which is narrating the fatal destiny of a fifteen-year-old girl. The story is unsettling and an incredibly formidable story of a young girl’s loss of innocence during a time of social change, unrest and turbulence. The story’s protagonist is Connie, a self-absorbed, yet beautiful fifteen-year-old girl, who is at odds with not only her family but also the conservative values handed down by society. With many literary devices being used to convey the change from her childhood to adolescence and sexuality. Throughout this tale, Connie goes back and forth between innocence and maturity, showing …show more content…
Life is a path of accomplishments and achievements as well as distress and confrontations. It has its own ups and downs. But every human being lives it and must live it as there is no other option. What we learn as we age making right choices and using the support that we have around, like our parents, grandparents, and friends makes us who we are. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie is a typical human being who must deal with all the situations that come in her life. Situations like dealing with people whom she has never met and if gone out of hands, controlling the situation using intelligent methods. Even though Connie a normal teenager, who loved her friends, went to school, and enjoyed life, she …show more content…
Connie, is not unlike many girls of the time she lives in. She is vain, she is constantly at war with her family, and she is in an incredible rush to grow up. Her race to maturity is the trait focused on in the story. It splits Connie into two different personalities: 'One for home, and one for anywhere that was not home' (431). Everything about her walk, her smile, and her laugh metamorphoses as soon as she steps out the front door. The child is hidden, the seductive young woman emerges, and the world of the big kids is more than willing to take her in. This world is what she thinks she wants, until the day a shiny golden convertible pull into her driveway and the mysterious Arnold Friend emerges. Through Arnold Friend, Connie learns that her rush to grow up is foolish and that she is trying to jump into a world that she knows nothing about and that could be potentially dangerous. She ultimately releases her dream and clings to her family as never before, realizing that their firm grasp on her is not for their benefit, but her own. Joyce Carol Oates’s vivid description of Arnold Friend carries the most emotional freight, as the evil behind his apparent glamor brings about Connie’s change. Though he takes the outer appearance of a normal boy, everything about his behavior suggests that he is the Devil himself