Criticisms of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been...

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 different points of view such as feminist, social, psychological and historical (Purdue (OWL)). The time this story had taken place is what makes it important. The story was written when the feminist movement was established, and the American society†¦show more content†¦When Arnold felt that Connie was not going to do what he wanted, he started to threat in hurting her family. The more the story was coming to end, the more orders were thrown at Connie by Arnol d. Many different critics were written on why Connie decided to leave her family and home and leave with a stranger. But taking the time of the story into account, it is possible to see that men, like Arnold, broke women pride and dominated them. Marie Urbanski writes â€Å"Connie leaves with Arnold because she is, â€Å"bowing to absolute forces which her youthful coquetry cannot direct – absolute forces over which she has no control† (78). Connie had to give up, just like any other women at the time and listen to what the man said. â€Å"At the end the terrified girl finds herself moving irresistibly toward him† (WinslowShow MoreRelatedSummary Of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?854 Words   |  4 Pagesbecause 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 thorough examples to show Connie’s carelessness. Barstow seems to enjoy Oates’ use of childish aspirations, violence, and suspense and relates most of her main pointsRead MoreEssay on Arnold Friend669 Words   |  3 Pagesappearance hiding something deeper, something evil? Arnold, posing as a teen-age boy, is none other than the devil himself, which shows in his words and actions, and in his physical traits. From the very beginning of, Joyce Carol Oates, Where are you going, Where Have you been? a certain number of religious references are interspersed throughout. These references help to maintain a biblical feeling, as well as to set a path for Friends entry into the story. They also foreshadow that; powersRead More Joyce Carol Oates Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?1539 Words   |  7 PagesJoyce Carol Oates Where Are You Going, Where Have You B een?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Joyce Carol Oates was born in 1938 in Lockport, New York. She started writing very young and that the age of fifteen she submitted her first novel, but it was rejected for being too dark;. This style of writing is common on many of her works including Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?; Oates graduated from Syracuse University and then went on to get her masters degree from the University of Wisconsin. Oates turnedRead More An Analysis of Joyce Carol Oates’ Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been1902 Words   |  8 PagesAn Analysis of Joyce Carol Oates’ Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Joyce Carol Oates is one of the most productive writers of our time. Between 1971-95, Oates published twenty-five novels, eighteen short story compilations, three collections of novellas, five volumes of poetry, six editions of plays, eight books of essays, and countless more umcollected works (Kellman 487). As the format for her writing varies, so does her subject matter. Her creations cover a wide range of genresRead MoreJoyce Carol OatessWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?1554 Words   |  7 PagesMystical voices of unity and liberty filled the youths spirits in the 1960’s, sparking what may have been America’s â€Å"golden ages†. For baby boomers, however, the new generation was being poisoned by talks of rebellion and uprising. Joyce Carol Oates, the author of â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?†, begins by introducing Connie, a stereotypical 15 year-old in the 1960’s, who voices the arrogance of the youth. Connie’s pa ssion for glancing at every reflective surface she passes by, her attemptsRead MoreEssay on Transition in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been3629 Words   |  15 PagesTransition in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Each of us experiences transitions in our lives. Some of these changes are small, like moving from one school semester to the next. Other times these changes are major, like the transition between youth and adulthood. In Joyce Carol Oates Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?, the author dramatizes a real life crime story to examine the decisive moment people face when at the crossroads between the illusions and innocenceRead More Comparing Where Are you going, Where Have You Been and Hills Like White Elephants1320 Words   |  6 Pagesoften use good technical writing skills. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast two short stories: Where Are you going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates and Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway. The comparison and contrast will be done based on their use of plot, point of view and character development. The short story where are you going, where have you been is about a teenage girl who is, vain, self-doubting and affixed in the present. She does not know anything aboutRead MoreThe Light On Daisys Dock1263 Words   |  6 PagesIn the literary criticism How to Read Novels Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, Foster underscores the notion of character’s desires. In the literary criticism of chapter fourteen of The Light on Daisy’s Dock, Foster says that not only is the novel is driven by character’s desires but also character’s desires are often associated with symbols and conflicts. These symbols and conflicts guide readers in a significant way which readers will understand the message the author is conveying in the novelRead MoreFamily Matters : Joyce Oates s Story About A Young Girl Being Stalked1060 Words   |  5 PagesKaylee Coughran Professor Royster Comp 2 7 October 2017 Family Matters How much of an impact does family have on a person’s life? â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,† Joyce Oates’s short story about a young girl being stalked, shows just how much of an influence families are on children. Connie was a fifteen-year-old girl living with her parents and sister in the 1960s. Connie started sneaking off as way to rebel from her less than perfect family and encountered the man who would later becomeRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Essay2193 Words   |  9 Pagesreading Joyce Carol Oates’ short story â€Å"Where are you going, where have you been?† and Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find,† readers will dismiss the idea of the existence of any similarity in the stories of a fifteen year old girl and a grandmother. However, upon closer inspection, it is easy to appreciate how these two seemingly polar opposites are actually structured to invoke the same feeling s in readers and to explore the same concepts. A close examination of â€Å"Where are you going