“You can’t change who you are. No matter how you struggle‚ some things will never change. And maybe they shouldn’t” (Thurman‚ Rob). “Identity is a powerful organizing presence in social life today” putting people into sections concerning likes and dislikes‚ culture and customs‚ separates them via social‚ economic and religious differences‚ identity makes a person‚ a person (Leve‚ Lauren). The character regarding one’s self is shaped by identity‚ how they view themselves‚ and largely how society
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Do not knock on the devil’s door‚ for he is bound to answer. Unfortunately this is exactly what happens to Connie‚ the main character in the short-story‚ “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?” written by Joyce Carol Oates. In the story‚ fifteen year old Connie is like any other teenage girl. She is vain‚ unkind to her parents‚ and desperate to grow up. Connie makes rebellious decisions such as sneaking across the highway to a drive-in restaurant for older kids‚ experimenting with sex‚ and lying
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Superficial‚ Intimate Teens "Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates catapults its reader into a seductive‚ fifteen-year-old mindset‚ embodied by the main character‚ the rebellious Connie. Connie‚ much like Sammy‚ the main character from "A & P" by John Updike‚ is on the prowl for companionship and sex. Their unsuccessful search for intimacy‚ appreciation for family life‚ and superficial attitudes are what bring them together as similar characters but also what makes them different
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The Fantasy of Life In the novels The Great Gatsby and "Where Are You Going and Where Have You Been" authors F. Scott Fitzgerald and Joyce Carol Oates show a theme of fantasy versus reality to convey a deeper meaning within their novels. They express this theme using characters such as Gatsby‚ Connie‚ Daisy and Arnold Friend within the stories. Through these characters lives and experiences the theme is created connecting both stories. The theme of fantasy versus reality is used to a great extent
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not home”(1369)‚ this character‚ Connie‚ in “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates‚ is depicted as a self-centered‚ condescending‚ insecure fifteen year old girl growing into a woman. Connie comes off as a troubled young girl who consistently uses her sexuality for attention but at the same time is afraid of intimacy. This is said be due to her fractured relationships with her family; her frequent excursions with older boys that appeared to not have any interest after the
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Connie’s fantasies and reality. “Where are you going‚ where have you been.”‚ leaves us with the question can we handle such a change? Good and evil‚ yin and yang‚ the idea of everything and everyone having two opposite sides has been talked about by humans for centuries and that’s just what Oats is commenting on throughout the story starting with the main character Connie. An average teenage girl living in a limbo of two worlds
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Maddie Kramber 8 April 2016 Dual Credit English Per. 3B “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?”: The Search For Self Still to this day in our lives‚ we struggle to figure out who we are‚ and what we are put here on Earth to do. In our society today‚ we have trouble with searching with who we are. In the short story‚ “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have You Been?‚” by Joyce Carol Oates‚ the author’s background as well as her usage of characterization and internal conflict‚ develop the theme of identity
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what is left of it‚ in "Where Are You Going‚ Where have You Been?" With symbolic imagery‚ major bibliomancy‚ and extreme personal conflict Oates easily manages to get her point across of the complete loss of innocence. A constant image that is brought to the reader’s creative thoughts is colors. The “convertible jalopy painted gold” (Lit 326) when Connie was with Eddie‚ the “open jalopy‚ painted a bright gold that caught the sunlight opaquely” (Lit 327) when Arnold Friend was barely arriving‚ and
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in “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?” In the story‚ repetition and strands of music take on a role of a character for Connie‚ offering a safe haven for a troubled girl. Throughout the story “Where Are You Going‚ Where Have you Been?”‚ Oates uses the element of strands and repetition of music to create a safe haven for Connie in which she can escape. The theme from a 1950’s song “It’s all Over Now‚ Baby Blue.” By Bob Dylan connects to the theme of escaping from “Where Are You Going? Where
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story “Where are you going‚ Where have you been?‚” by Joyce Carol Oates‚ is a tale about a teenage girl making the journey from her known world into something she has never experienced before. The main character lives the normal teenage life listening to the latest music and going out with her friends to the mall. “They must have been familiar sights‚ walking around the shopping plaza in their shorts and flat ballerina slippers that always scuffed the sidewalk” (753). One night with her friends changes
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