Short Story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'

Words: 1221
Pages: 5
Open Document
The Unknown Future
Do our parents know about life more than we do, or do they know what is good or bad for us? Do we agree that adolescents have the right to choose their way of living? These kinds of questions lead us to think a lot about our life; especially when we have been young. Everyone in this life has the right to choose how he wants to live his life, but no matter what it is, it supposed to be a good life that falls into success, happiness, and comfort. In this short story, “Where are you going, where have you been?” Joyce Carol Oates introduces us to Connie and her family. Connie lives with her mother, father, and her older sister June. Connie’s father is absent mentally and emotionally, and her mother is always trying to compare her to her older sister. Beauty is everything to Connie; in addition, Connie’s friends are very …show more content…
In addition, families should take full responsibilities to children and watch them all the time because teenagers can sometimes become very difficult to understand; especially these kind of ages because we are living in this bad word, which is fall with many bad people that surrounding us from everywhere. Therefore, parents should have to take care of their children because most of the teenagers do not know how to make the right choices in their life, and these things could cause a lot of side effects on most of them. As we see in this story that, Connie does not know how to make the right choices in her life, and that will be causing her to fall in the most dangerous problems that girls fall in most of the time; especially at her age. Everything has changed in Connie’s life, the destroying of her daydream and the big worst event that happened with her made her feel scared from life, and she is not being able to defend herself, and the surrender is the only
Show More

Related Documents: Short Story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'

Short Story 'Where Are You Going Where Have You Been'

The short story “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been” exemplifies these problems everyday teens face, in the character Connie’s attributes. Connie is the main character in Oates short story exhibits odd behaviors due to her misfortune at home. Connie is a popular, pretty girl who gets everything she wants, but suffers from her own insecurities. It is very evident in the story that Connie is an insecure young girl with low self-esteem, and suffers from a deep fear of intimacy. In “Where Are You…

Words 140 - Pages 1

Short Story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'

Maeve Moynihan In the short story Where are you going, Where have you been? By Joyce Carol Oats ,is about a young girl who who argues with her family and thinks she's older and mature then the is. She has a “I do what I want” kind of attitude. The day her father dropped her off at the mall with her friend, she walked across the highway to a drive in restaurant in hopes to scope out some boys without her parents knowing she was doing so because she knew she was not suppose to be doing it. She ended…

Words 545 - Pages 3

Summary Of Short Story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been'

The ending of a story can make or break the story as a whole. If the audience enjoys reading the book, but is upset with the ending, it possibly could ruin the entire book for them. A mysterious ending is a different approach, which could make the reader enjoy the book more. At first, one may think this isn’t true because the audience is left on a cliffhanger; however, it requires the reader to think about the ending and what they believe actually happened. Having a mysterious ending also encourages…

Words 1018 - Pages 5

Analyzing The Short Story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'

The short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?’’, seems to be a cautionary tale about the consequences of vanity. Connie, the main character, is a beautiful blonde who looks down on her family and is extremely aware of her attractiveness which eventually leads to her downfall. She redeems herself in the end, however, by sacrificing herself to save her family. Connie accepts her fate even though where she is going looks decidedly bleak. Connie has a strained relationship with her mother…

Words 526 - Pages 3

Joyce Oates's Short Story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been'

Joyce Oates’s short story “Where Are you Going, Where Have You Been” is an extremely intense story that makes you wonder what will happen next. One particle thought I had when reading is how the personality of the main character, Connie, seemed to change. By that I mean, at the beginning of the story we see Connie as self-centered and conceded. We see this when she consistently ignores her mother’s comments, and only cares if she can go out with her friends. We see this personality all the way up…

Words 403 - Pages 2

Joyce Carol Oates's Short Story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been

We all have at least one time experienced that there are some entities in life that we have to figure out on our own. If it is just to put our finger into hot water to see if it is hot, although our parents told us not to do that, because it will burn our finger and hurt. But we will remember that lesson easier when we experience it on our own, than somebody telling us that the water is hot, the experience…

Words 2013 - Pages 9

Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Summary

“Impure Realism: Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Studies in Short Fiction; Newberry, S.C. Vol. 28. Iss. -. 3, (Summer 1991): 371. https://wnc.instructure.com/courses/3464751/pages/where-are-you-going-where-have-you-been. Accessed on 4 Apr. 2024. The. This is considered a scholarly article. The comparison between the serial killer, Charles Howard Schmid, and the character in the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Arnold Friend can be vague in his characteristics…

Words 712 - Pages 3

Joyce Carol Oates and Arnold Fiend Essay

Studies I 15 February 2015 What is the Truth in Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Arnold Fiend is the biggest dilemma that this story has and who he actually is. Is he The Pied Piper of Tuscan? Comparing the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, to the background information of “The Pied Piper of Tuscan” I could not have seen a more clear resemblance of the two. Don Moser tells the story about a 23-year-old murderer, Charles Schmid and how he cruised around…

Words 470 - Pages 2

Final Essay

Since the publication of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” many critics have attempted to analyze Joyce Carol Oates’ story. One of the most debatable things about the story is whether it is a work of realism or surrealism. Some critics agree that the story is an actual event while others argue that it is a dream. I think the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is a work of realism. The “consistent naturalism” throughout the story proves it. Coulthard expresses, “[a]bsolutely…

Words 755 - Pages 4

Analysis of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Essay

Hurst 1 Allison Hurst Professor Ben Mayo English Comp II 30 April 2011 Analysis of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates In 1966, Joyce Carol Oates published her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”. Oates was inspired to write this story after reading about a serial killer that was referred to as “The Pied Piper of Tucson”. Oates was disturbed by the number of teenagers that this killer was able to persuade to help him and keep his secrets…

Words 1038 - Pages 5