Where Are You Going Where Have You Been essay topics?
Joyce Carol Oates short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been showcases the female stereotypes of the time through the protagonist Connie. The story is set in the 1960s, which was a time of great change in America. Topics like feminism, civil rights, sexual freedom, etc.
What happens to Connie at the end of Where Are You Going Where have you been?
Connie is compelled to leave with him and do what he demands of her. The story ends as Connie leaves her front porch; her eventual fate is left ambiguous.
What is the moral of Where Are You Going Where have you been?
The main themes of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” are appearance versus reality, the embodiment of evil, and self-sacrifice. Appearance vs. reality: Both Connie and Arnold have two-sided natures, presenting an appealing self when necessary and withholding another.
Where Are You Going Where have you been Connie character analysis?
Connie is in the midst of an adolescent rebellion. She argues with her mother and sister, June, and neglects family life in favor of scoping out boys at the local restaurant. She tries to appear older and wiser than she is, and her head is filled with daydreams and popular music that feed her ideas of romance and love.
Why did Connie leave with Arnold friend?
This fear, this defense that Connie has developed, is another reason that she ends up with Arnold Friend in the end. Her insecurity, her low self-esteem, and her fear of intimacy all aid her in her unconscious decision to leave her house and go with the devious Arnold Friend in his gold convertible jalopy.
Why is Arnold friend attracted to Connie?
Hover for more information. Arnold is attracted to Connie’s beauty and the innocence of her youth. As the author outlines at the beginning of the story, Connie has the type of long, dark blonde hair that attracts admiring looks—looks which, at the age of 15, she is becoming increasingly aware of.
How is Arnold Friend the Devil?
Connie’s predator, Arnold Friend, is not just any supernatural force. He is the devil himself, attempting to lure a young soul with forced friendship; his last name is a direct reference to this. Arnold Friend has the ability to change voice tones (DiYanni 679), a power that Satan is known to have.
How old does Connie think Arnold friend is?
She recognizes the driver, Arnold Friend, as the man from the drive-in restaurant, and is initially charmed by the smooth-talking, charismatic stranger. He tells Connie he is 18 and has come to take her for a ride in his car with his sidekick Ellie.
What do the numbers 33 19 17 mean?
The numbers 33, 19, and 17 were painted on Friend’s car. The numbers here represent the devil’s marked number mentioned in the Bible. Three plus three equals six; nine upside down equals six; and seven minus one equals six, which when placed together equal “666”, the devil’s number.
What do the numbers written on Arnold friend’s car 33 19 and 17 signify in the story?
When Connie asks him what the stuff painted on his car means, Arnold goes through the various sayings and eventually comes to the numbers 33,19, 17. Harold Hurley posits that the numbers carry a sexual connotations because when added together they equal 69, a sexual position.
Is Arnold Friend real?
Oates has described how she based the character of Arnold Friend on the real life serial killer, Charles Schmid, who also wore makeup and stuffed his boots in order to alter his appearance, and was known for preying on teenage girls—taking three of their lives in Tuscon, Arizona the 1960s.
What does Connie symbolize?
Where Have You Been?” after reading an account in Life magazine of a strangely influential young man who lured and then killed several girls in Tucson, Arizona, in the early 1960s, Joyce Carol Oates’s character of Connie represents the naive, superficial, and self-centered pretty teen-aged girl with Romantic illusions.
Why is music so important to Connie?
Connie mistakes music as a sacred force of protection because it gives her pleasure, failing to realize that it is actually a force of self- destruction. Oates uses music to transition between Connie’s two lives: the dull one that she lives with her family, and the exciting public one she lives with her friends.
What does Connie represent in Where Are You Going Where have you been?
Connie, also, has been said to represent many things: Eve, troubled youth, or spiritually unenlightened humanity.
What does Arnold Friend represent in the story?
Arnold Friend clearly symbolizes the devil through his physical traits, his knowledge of Connie, and his power over her kind of like he was hypnotizing her to go with him. First, Arnold Friend’s physical traits portray him as Satan.
How does Arnold manipulate Connie?
Arnold uses several psychological weapons to lure Connie out of her house. First of all, he uses the ploy of recognition. Next, Arnold uses the weapon of flattery. He tells her that she’s cute and that he came out especially to see her.
Why is Connie’s sister June included in the story?
June serves “as the standard to which Connie’s own behavior is always compared and found wanting. Connie believes she is better than her sister because she is more beautiful.”
Is Where Are You Going Where have you been based on a true story?
Sources. Joyce Carol Oates based “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” on a true story of rape and murder in Tucson, Arizona, in 1965. Charles Schmid, a twenty-three-year-old man, was arrested for the rapes and murders of several teenage girls.
Where did you go where have you been?
Based on Joyce Carol Oates’ short story, the film follows Connie, a 15 year old girl through her life and summer in 1966. Her summer comes to a halt one afternoon while her family is away from their home.
Where Are You Going Where Have You Been point of view?
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is told by a third-person limited omniscient narrator who focuses on Connie’s point of view. This narrative choice allows readers to empathize with Connie while at the same time maintain some distance from the events.