Where Are You Going Where have you been feminist allegory?
The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates can be interpreted from a feminist perspective. There are many parts of the story that seem to symbolize the oppression of women. The story symbolizes the exploitation of women by men, and how women allow themselves to be controlled.
What is the symbolism in Where Are You Going Where have you been?
The Car (Symbol) In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” it is notable that men drive and women are passengers. When Arnold Friend offers to take Connie for a ride, he is seeking to gain control over her and her movements. As an instrument of control, his car stands as a symbol for his whole persona.
What do the numbers 33 19 17 mean in Where Are You Going Where have you been?
In interpreting the numbers 33, 19, 17, which are painted on the side of Arnold Friend’s jalopy in Joyce Carol Oates’s story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” (in The Wheel of Love and Other Stories [New York: Vanguard Press, 1970]), Mark Robson claims that there exists an allusion to Judges 19:17–the number …
What does Ellie represent in Where Are You Going Where have you been?
In her 1990 journal article published in Studies in Short Fiction entitled “The Shadow of a Satyr in Oates’s ‘Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” literary critic Joan Easterly posits that the name “Ellie Oscar is a parody of the name of the Greek god of mercy, Elios.” This is a highly defensible theory of the …
What is the purpose of Where Are You Going Where have you been?
Joyce Carol Oates wrote her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” after reading about the 1950s serial murders of Charles Schmid, a story that was profiled in Life magazine. For one thing, she was concerned with the increasing fixation on sexual themes in the youth culture of the 1960s.
Why does Connie finally go outside as Arnold demands?
Arnold instructs Connie to come outside and says she is better than her family because they would not sacrifice themselves for her, as she is about to sacrifice herself for them. Connie’s dreams of love and romance are replaced by her dread of the oncoming sexual assault.
What does Connie do at the end of the story?
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.”
Is Arnold Friend the Devil?
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.
What does Arnold friend want Connie?
Arnold Friend: A mysterious figure who visits Connie while her family is not at home and continuously demands that Connie to get in the car and go on a ride with him. He attempts to be smooth talking, yet his strange, performative and threatening behaviour make Connie uneasy and scared to be with him.
Why is Connie suspicious about Arnold Friend?
What causes Connie to become suspicious about Arnold Friend in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” From the start Connie is unsure about Arnold Friend. However, she is intrigued by him and finds him interesting. He dresses like other teenage boys, and Connie likes his jeans, boots, and T-shirt.
How does Arnold manipulate Connie?
Arnold’s main weapons against Connie are manipulation and flattery; she has no immunity to these things, and thus, they become a tool to ensnare her. He compliments Connie’s beauty, and she wants more. But when flattery doesn’t work, he uses manipulation and threatens her family.
Why is Connie’s sister June included in the story?
Having June as a sort of foil or point of comparison to Connie is important to establish Connie’s sense of her place in the family structure; just as Connie compares herself to her friends or other girls in her school.
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.
How would you describe Connie’s relationship with her mother sister and father?
There is no intimacy or tenderness in the relationships that Connie has with her family members. Her parents also have little, if any, knowledge of Connie’s associations and activities. A pretty girl, fifteen-year-old Connie is entirely self-absorbed.
How does Arnold friend know so much about Connie?
He invites her to go for a ride. Arnold Friend seems to know many things about Connie: her name, who her friends are, and the fact that her family is gone for the afternoon. When Arnold’s friend Ellie turns around, Connie sees he looks like a forty-year-old baby.
What does Ellie offer for Arnold friend?
Ellie Oscar serves as Arnold Friend’s largely silent sidekick, sitting in the car and listening to the radio for most of the story’s action. Eventually he offers to cut Connie’s phone line, bolstering Arnold Friend’s ambiguous and seductive verbal threats with the possibility of real, physical violence.
How is Arnold friend’s name symbolic and ironic?
How is Arnold Friend’s name symbolic and ironic? Arnold’s name is ironic because he is the opposite of a friend, symbolically showing that those.
What is significant about the name Arnold friend?
Arnold Friend could be said to symbolize the devil. Like the devil, he’s superficially friendly and charming, but in actual fact turns out to be the incarnation of evil. Arnold’s physical traits, as well as his behavior towards Connie, point towards his representing the devil himself.
What does the story say about physical beauty and the way it is regarded by society?
Oates might be saying that the idea of physical beauty as dictated by society is one realm where victimization is inevitable for either one is adhering to norms in which they lack control or they will always be forced to chase an unattainable ideal.
Do the descriptions of Arnold friend his face his clothing his dialogue have symbolic meaning is his name symbolic?
Why is music so important to Connie and to the story as a whole? Do the descriptions of Arnold Friend–his face, his clothing, his dialogue–have symbolic meaning? This whole story is an allegory for temptation by the Devil. Connie is vain, and the Devil targets vain people.
What does Connie symbolize?
Many critics have interpreted Arnold Friend as a symbol of some larger idea or force, such as the devil, death, or sexuality. Connie, also, has been said to represent many things: Eve, troubled youth, or spiritually unenlightened humanity.
Who does Connie see at the drive through?
The girls often sneak across the highway to a drive-in restaurant and meet boys. One night, a boy named Eddie invites Connie to eat dinner with him, and Connie leaves her friend at the restaurant’s counter to go with him. As they walk through the parking lot, she sees a man in a gold convertible.
Is Connie dreaming in where are you going?
In Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” the reader can conclude that this story is Connie’s realistic dream. The narrator leaves the reader to decide Connie’s fate, which is waking up from this awful nightmare relieved that her dream was not reality. Works Cited. Oates, Joyce Carol.
Where Are You Going Where have you been Connie character traits?
Fifteen-year-old Connie is a stereotypical teenage girl: rebellious, superficial, and vain, she often lies to her mother about where she’s going and where she’s been.
How is music used in Where Are You Going Where have you been?
Music. Music functions as Connie’s bridge from the real world to her fantasy world. Connie enjoys escaping her life by listening to music and daydreaming about boys, and she gathers her ideas about romance primarily from songs on the radio.
Who is the main character in Where Are You Going Where have you been?
Connie
Is Connie a static or dynamic character?
As the character analysis of Connie in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” proves, even if Connie does not leave her house and does not go out with Arnold, she understands that independence is not what she has believed to be. This realization of some facts makes her a dynamic character.
Is Connie a round character?
Since Connie is lured from her life of innocence and teenage games into realizing that flirting with men/boys can have dire consequences, this learning curve harshly proves that Connie is a round character.
What is a dynamic character?
A dynamic character is one who learns a lesson or changes as a person (either for better or for worse). Most main characters and major characters in stories are dynamic. Dynamic characters are the opposite of static characters; while dynamic characters change throughout a story, static characters stay the same.