The character Connie in Joyce Carol Oates short story “Where Are Going, Where Have You Been?” has a lot of issues. The problems Connie has with her social life, family, and the people that she talks to come to control her future which anticipates the development of her character, this correlating to her unfortunate death. The Bob Dylan song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” perfectly describes her situation which was the inspiration for Oates's story. In 'Where Are You Going Where Have You Been' music is a big influence on Connie and Friend specifically rock ‘n' roll music. Throughout this story, there are plenty of references to music becoming a lifestyle and characters mimicking their favorite artists' clothing trends. The revolution of rock
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Throughout the 1950’s and ‘60’s radio stations that played rock music gained a listening audience of mostly teenagers. Whether Connie is at at home or, the drive-in, rock music serves as a constant element in her environment: “They listened to the music that made everything so good: the music was always in creative ways, like music at a church service; it was something to depend upon”(Oates,1035). During the story Connie’s character takes the music very directly. Popular lyrics from her favorite songs inspired her fantasies about life and love relationships. In this time period, rock ‘n’ roll performers would set hair and clothing trends. These trends physically impacted the youth of the day who would strive to imitate what they saw and heard was trendiest. In the short story, Arnold Friend, a man that appears to be in his thirty, tries to capture this image by “[having] shaggy black hair, a convertible jalopy painted gold” and “tight faded jeans stuffed into black, scuffed boots, a belt that pulled his waist in and showed how lean he was, and a white pullover shirt that was a little soiled and showed the hard small muscles of his arms and shoulders” in order to appeal to teenagers like Connie (Oates, 1035&1038). His ‘look’ mimics that …show more content…
“She wore a pullover jersey blouse that looked one way when she was at home and another way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home” this quote implies that there were two sides to Connie, one more childlike side that she only shared with her family and the other for when she was out with her friend trying to get attention from boys. “...Her mouth, which was pale and smirking most of the time, but bright and pink on these evenings out ” (Oates,1034) Oates includes this in the story to imply that her style of dress and the way she presented herself would have influenced Arnold to pursue her.
The song “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue” is especially moving and relevant to Oates story. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” Arnold Friend tells Connie that he knows all about her, and music lures Connie as he speaks with a lifting voice “as if he were reciting the words to a song” (Oates,1039). During the story, Arnold Friend pulls up to Connie’s house in a bright gold jalopy convertible as part of his youthful disguise that he uses to
Throughout the 1950’s and ‘60’s radio stations that played rock music gained a listening audience of mostly teenagers. Whether Connie is at at home or, the drive-in, rock music serves as a constant element in her environment: “They listened to the music that made everything so good: the music was always in creative ways, like music at a church service; it was something to depend upon”(Oates,1035). During the story Connie’s character takes the music very directly. Popular lyrics from her favorite songs inspired her fantasies about life and love relationships. In this time period, rock ‘n’ roll performers would set hair and clothing trends. These trends physically impacted the youth of the day who would strive to imitate what they saw and heard was trendiest. In the short story, Arnold Friend, a man that appears to be in his thirty, tries to capture this image by “[having] shaggy black hair, a convertible jalopy painted gold” and “tight faded jeans stuffed into black, scuffed boots, a belt that pulled his waist in and showed how lean he was, and a white pullover shirt that was a little soiled and showed the hard small muscles of his arms and shoulders” in order to appeal to teenagers like Connie (Oates, 1035&1038). His ‘look’ mimics that …show more content…
“She wore a pullover jersey blouse that looked one way when she was at home and another way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home” this quote implies that there were two sides to Connie, one more childlike side that she only shared with her family and the other for when she was out with her friend trying to get attention from boys. “...Her mouth, which was pale and smirking most of the time, but bright and pink on these evenings out ” (Oates,1034) Oates includes this in the story to imply that her style of dress and the way she presented herself would have influenced Arnold to pursue her.
The song “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue” is especially moving and relevant to Oates story. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” Arnold Friend tells Connie that he knows all about her, and music lures Connie as he speaks with a lifting voice “as if he were reciting the words to a song” (Oates,1039). During the story, Arnold Friend pulls up to Connie’s house in a bright gold jalopy convertible as part of his youthful disguise that he uses to