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.
What does the title Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been mean?
In Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?, the title relates to Connie’s lack of focus and detachment from her family when she goes out with her…
What is the ending 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 do the numbers mean in the story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
Literary scholars have interpreted this series of numbers as different Biblical references (the title appears to have been taken from Judges 19:17), as an underlining of Friend’s sexual deviancy, or as a reference to the ages of Friend and his victims.Where do Connie and her friends go when they leave the shopping plaza?
Connie and her friends enjoy being dropped off at a shopping plaza without adult supervision, wearing ballerina slippers and charm bracelets. Often after being dropped off, they run across the highway to a drive-in where older kids gather.
What does 33 19 17 mean in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
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.
What does Arnold friend's car symbolize?
Arnold’s Car Arnold Friend’s flashy gold car, with its outdated phrases written on the sides, is an extension of Arnold himself: extreme and not entirely right. … Once Arnold’s true, violent nature comes through, the car becomes a symbol of all that is dark and ominous about his character.
What does Arnold Friend mean when he tells Connie the place where you came from Ain't there any more?
Arnold says to her, “’The place where you came from ain’t there any more, and where you had in mind to go is cancelled out,’” negating past and future and suggesting that what she knows now will be eternal, another eternal present state.What is the meaning of the title Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Why is the title a question?
1. It sounds like the kind of question you might get from your parents on your way out the door or coming home after your curfew – which makes sense for a story starring a teenager. 2. It could be a bigger, more metaphysical question: how did you get to this point in your life and what are you going to do now?
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.
Article first time published onWho is Arnold Friend based on?
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.
How does Arnold Friend manipulate Connie?
Friend seems to know that he can control Connie with his words: if she simply listens to him for long enough, the desired effect will take hold. … Friend’s use of manipulative language makes her believe she not only has no other option than to go with him, but that she has chosen to go with him.
What did Connie do instead of go to a barbecue with her family?
Connie spends the summer avoiding her mother’s prying questions and dreaming about the boys she meets. One Sunday, her parents and June leave her at home alone while they go to a family barbeque. Connie washes her hair and dozes while she lets it dry in the sun.
Who arrives in Connie's driveway while her parents are at the barbeque?
At some point later in the summer, Connie is left alone at home on a Sunday when the rest of her family go out for a barbecue. A car pulls up in the driveway: it’s Arnold Friend and Ellie Oscar.
Why does Connie go with Arnold and Ellie?
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.
How does Where Are You Going Where have you been related to Bob Dylan?
Joyce Carol Oates dedicated “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” to Bob Dylan, and she has claimed that the story was influenced by Dylan’s haunting song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” The story contains echoes of the song’s lyrics, such as the following: “The vagabond who’s rapping at your door / Is standing …
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 is the irony of Arnold friends name?
Arnold Friend, with his suggestive name that hints at “Arch Fiend,” is an ambiguous figure who may be either demon or human, fantasy or reality. Arnold makes a grand entrance at Connie’s house in his gold convertible, but beyond his ostentatious car, his appearance is less than impressive.
Where Are You Going Where have you been Arnold devil?
Arnold Friend, the antagonist in Joyce Carol Oates’s story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” represents the devil who arrives to bring Connie to the underworld. For example, his unusual appearance implies that he is an inhuman being, unlike what he wants to lead on.
What is the 33 book of the Bible?
Jeremiah 33BookBook of JeremiahHebrew Bible partNevi’imOrder in the Hebrew part6CategoryLatter Prophets
Why do readers feel sympathy for Connie in Joyce Carol Oates Where Are You Going Where have you been?
Tone. Oates’s uses a sympathetic but serious tone for this story. The story is largely told with sympathy to Connie as the reader is allowed to explore Connie’s thoughts and feelings toward her family, life, and Arnold Friend.
What's this about the Pettinger girl?
Having children outside marriage carries a social stigma for the mother. Some critics suspect that when Connie’s mother asks her daughter,’ ‘What’s this about the Pettinger girl?,” she is alluding to a rumor that a schoolmate of Connie’s may be pregnant.
What is Connie's American Dream?
Connie is attempting to overcome her plain life by living an alternate life on the weekends. Joyce Carol Oates characters frequently fall short of their dreams, mainly because their dreams are unobtainable. Connie’s dream of the American rock-star does not exist, This preview is partially blurred.
Is Connie a narcissist?
In the short story, Carol Oates describes Connie as having two different personalities, one being a narcissistic attitude.
How is Connie characterized by Oates?
In Joyce Carol Oates story, Connie is, at first, a stereotypical teenage girl, superficial, self-centered, vain, and deceitful.
How Old Is Arnold Friend Where Are You Going Where have you been?
The stranger identifies himself as “Arnold Friend,” and he insists that he’s 18 years old. Initially calmed by his smooth-talking, Arnold asks for Connie to accompany him on a ride to a far away location. He also introduces her to his partner, Ellie, who was eerily silent about Arnold’s intentions.
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.
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.
What is something that Connie notices about Arnold Friend after she has talked to him for a while?
On her way to Eddie’s car, Connie feels overwhelmingly happy, a feeling she connects to the music playing more than her excitement at being with Eddie, and sucks “in her breath with the pure pleasure of being alive.” At that moment she notices a boy (later revealed as Arnold Friend) just a few feet away; he has “shaggy …
