Analysis Of Joyce Carol Oatess Where Are You Going,...

Charles Baudelaire once said, â€Å"la plus belle des ruses du diable est de vous persuader quil nexiste pas. (the devil’s finest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist).† The deceit that Connie experiences throughout the story influences the behaviors and perspectives that she has on her own life, changing the initial thoughts that she had towards her family. In the short story, â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie encountered a guy named Eddie where they spent a few hours in a restaurant that later led them to being in an alley. Though this moment seemed to of little significance to Connie, an incident with a strange man, Arnold Friend, later on in the story left Connie with an unsettling†¦show more content†¦This insecurity makes Connie quite vulnerable to the will of others, making her desirable for all the wrong reasons. One night Connie went on a date with a guy named Eddie where the id of her pers onality begins to show, reflecting her true desires for romance and excitement and breaking the constraints of superego in order to seek satisfaction. Nothing of this date seemed to be out of the ordinary until she left the restaurant, â€Å"... Just at that moment she happened to glance at a face just a few feet from hers. It was a boy with shaggy black hair†¦ He wagged a finger and laughed and said ‘gonna get you, baby†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (1). Connie did not think anything of the portentous experience with the guy until she was left home alone one Sunday afternoon. The guy before, later introduces himself as Arnold Friend, makes an appearance at her house, asking for Connie’s company. With a little bit of hesitance, Connie continues to socialize with Arnold who seems to know more than a little about her and her personal life. He appears to be very charming and appealing yet the fact that he happens to know everything about her gave Connie a moment of realization that he was not so delightful. The conversation between Connie and Arnold shows details of the ego and id in regards to control. Although the interaction between the two show no more than simply speaking, Connie feels more and more powerless as the conversation continues. She resists the temptation of her id when sheShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Joyce Carol Oatess Short StoryWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?1256 Words   |  6 PagesComing of Age Joyce Carol Oatess short story, â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† was written in 1966 and twenty years later was made into a movie entitled Smooth Talk by Joyce Chopra, winner of the 1985 U.S. Film Festival for best dramatic picture. The writing by Oates is loosely based on a true story known as â€Å"The Pied Piper of Tucson.† The most significant differences based on the story and movie are the father-daughter relationship with Connie and Chopra’s changing the mother’s attitudeRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been By Joyce Carol Oates990 Words   |  4 PagesSocial Reality: An Analysis of â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been† by Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates has kept her true inspiration behind â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been† in order to create a willing suspension of disbelief between realism and fantasy. The short story by Oates was released soon after the newspaper published the murders committed by Charles Schmid Jr. in 1966. The story displays numerous resembling details that match the real-life murder case involving â€Å"TheRead MoreSummary Of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?854 Words   |  4 Pagesagainst Arnold Friend because of her lack of knowledge and the impact of American culture. The mother-daughter relationship plays a significant role in the story because had Connie and her mother communicated better, Connie, who is still a child, would have be protected from the evil of the world. Barstow also points out that the modern American is unable to distinguish evil from good. Evaluation: This article is useful to me because Barstow effectively shows the theme of loss innocence by using thoroughRead More Criticisms of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? By Joyce Oates1950 Words   |  8 Pages A short story by Joyce Carol Oates called â€Å"Where are you going, where have you been?† reflects the writer’s point of view of the way society looked to women in the sixties. The story takes place in the 1960’s when almost everything reached a turning point at that time. It talks about a teenager who wanted boys’ attention, but she ended up leaving her family house with a stranger. Connie represented most teenage girls, and their destiny at that time. The story can be looked at from many differentRead MoreEssay about Oates Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been1290 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"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 and turbulent times. The story’s protagonist is Connie, a self-absorbed, yet beautiful fifteen year old girl, who not only is at odds with her family but a lso the conservative values handed down by her family. She, unknowing to her parents, spends her evenings exploring her independence and individuality as wellRead MoreJoyce Carol OatessWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?1098 Words   |  5 PagesFiction Analysis Paper: Where are you going, where have you been? Joyce Carol Oates’s Where are you going, where have you been? is a post-modernist story. The primary theme is childhood versus adulthood. The story explores Connie’s, the main character’s, ambivalence about adulthood. The plot of the story builds the theme. Throughout the story, Connie believes that she is playing 2 personas. One that is child-like, and innocent, and another that is lascivious and â€Å"adult-like† to the extent that sheRead MoreA Continued Study Of The Real Life Story Behind2311 Words   |  10 PagesDiana Dean ENG 1102 Sandra Rourke December 7, 2014 A CONTINUED STUDY OF THE REAL LIFE STORY BEHIND â€Å"WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?† AND OF SERIAL KILLERS IN GENERAL The name of the man behind Joyce Carol Oates’s short story, â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† is Charles Schmid, Jr. or â€Å"Smitty† as he was called by most everyone who knew him. I use both names interchangeably. The names of Schmid’s victims were Alleen Rowe whom he killed on May 31, 1964, with the help of two