Joyce Carol Oates

Fantasy Versus Reality: Connie In Joyce Carol Oates “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, the point that is being made about coming of age is that the transition from child to adult is one Connie learns in a difficult way as she is forced to abandon her fantasies for the realities of what comes with being mature. Connie is introduced as a stereotypical teenager who has a strong focus on her looks, and her relationships with others. When Connie stays home alone one day she began to…

correctly interpreted. History, therefore, can be seen as just a series of events in the past that do not necessarily mean anything to the present. Joyce Carol Oates, author of the article “Believing What We Read, and Vice Versa,” says, “With the best intentions, in recalling the past we are already altering – one might say violating – the original experience” (Oates). In other words, history cannot be a story unless it is not distorted from its original…

to Find, The theme of fear is present throughout these stories. The ideology of fear are shown in these two stories and they connect to how fear is used to control people. Fear is seen today and was seen in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Both Joyce Carol Oates and Flannery O’Connor emphasized this throughout their stories. In Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Arnold Friend exists as a character who is surrounded by multiple people in his daily life. He chooses Connie out of the crowd…

no say in what she did and was forced by Arnold to follow his orders. He forced her by saying “Maybe you better step out here, he said, and this last was in a different voice. It was a little flatter, as if the heat was finally getting to him.” (Joyce Oates pg.7). Collin didn’t even know this man well, and Arnold made it seem like he already claimed Connie by calling her “honey”. Men seem to always think they 're a level higher than women and know better. The theme of the story shows how women…

Joyce Carol Oates writes about a self-absorbed girl named Connie and her life-threatening experience with Arnold Friend. Every evening during the summer, Connie uses the excuse of going to the shopping plaza with her friend to actually meet boys at a fast-food restaurant. During these risky evenings, Connie becomes very flirty while away from her family. At the restaurant one evening, Connie attracts the attention of a stranger named Arnold Friend without completely realizing it. Arnold shows up…

In the short story, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, by Joyce Carol Oates, the setting is set in the 1960’s in America. The story has different situations such as: Connie’s house, the shopping plaza, the movie theater, and the drive-in restaurant. One day in a drive-in restaurant a guy seeks interest on Connie and marks her as his belonging. Days later the guy, Arnold Friend, shows up to Connie’s house when she’s alone and tells her to come outside with him so they can be together;…

Obvious Success "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates. The story was about a 15-year-old girl named Connie who "knew that she was pretty and that was everything" Oates pg. 308. The story mostly focused on Connie's regular teenage life, but the story took a turn when Arnold Friend, a boy that Connie saw on a parking lot of a restaurant, appeared in front of Connie's house when she was alone. Arnold Friend was inviting Connie out for a ride,…

Arnold Friend, the omniscient inveigler and deceptive charmer of Joyce Carol Oates’, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” is evocative of the Devil himself. Through rich symbolism, dialogue, and characterization, Oates’ creates a twisted lie of a man whose every word is to be doubted. Friend is a great deceiver, a tempter to evil, for he not only invites Connie to her own rape and murder, but convinces her walk into his waiting arms. The first description of Arnold Friend tells of his…

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates is a story about a teenage girl in the 1960's, named Connie, and her struggle to escape reality while simultaneously resisting authority and playing the role of beauty queen. Connie wants nothing less than to be like her mother or sister. She thinks that because she is prettier than them that she is above them. Connie's fascination with her beauty and her inability to distinguish reality from fantasy ultimately lead to her own…

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”: An Analysis There are two themes that are central to “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates: the theme of independence and the theme of reality vs. fantasy, both of which are relevant in today’s society. Both of these themes are prominent in the interactions between Connie, a precocious fifteen-year-old girl and an ageless “Old Friend”, Arnold Friend, who can be seen as evil, or, the devil. The symbol of music is used as a…