“Where are you Going, Where Have you Been?

Joyce Carol Oates

Connie

• Adolescence – Fifteen – “Quick, nervous, giggling habit”– “Checking other people’s faces to make sure her

own was all right” (1)• Rebellious• Vain• Self-centered

– Transitioning from girl to woman

Connie

• Identity and search for self – “Everything about her had two sides to it,

one for home and one for anywhere that was not home:”

• Likeable character • Values outward appearances • Holds others to her standards

Connie

• Identity and search for self – Establishes identity by testing boundaries

of parents – Disparages sister, fights with mother

• “she was so plain and chunky and steady that Connie had to hear her praised all the time by her mother and her mother's sisters.” (2)

– Foil to Connie – Connie is stereotypical “pretty girl”

Connie

• Identity and search for self– Connie values physical beauty

• “Her heart began to pound and her fingers snatched at her hair..wondering how bad she looked.” (

• Connie is transitioning between adolescence and adulthood

– Unstable identity cause her to be susceptible to Arnold Friends

– Represented by the screen door – Arnold Friend will use her desire to be an adult to get her to

come out » Causes nervousness and anxiety

Connie

• Appearance verses Reality – “Who the hell do you think you are?”

• First impression was her type of guy • Enables him to lure Connie

– Creates tone of tension and uneasiness– “Connie liked the way he was dressed…the nose

long and hawklike, sniffing as if she were a treat he was going to gobble up and it was all a joke.”

American Society

• 1960’s • Growth of suburbs • Loss of community and cohesiveness • A place of security and safety

– Contrast to the violence implied that will ensue– “…the backyard ran off into the weeds and a

fence-like line of trees…The asbestos ranch house…”

American Society

• Changes in family bonds– Lenient mother – Rising tensions

• “didn’t bother talking much”• “Her mother who noticed everything and knew

everything”

– Disconnected father • “away most of the time”• Repeated phrases

American Society

• Sexual permissiveness

• Feminism

• War

• Increase in violence and crime

• Music representative of this

Arnold Friend

• Attracts Connie due to physical appearance– “It was a boy with shaggy black hair, in a

convertible jalopy painted gold. He stared at her and then his lips widened into a grin. Connie slit her eyes at him and turned away, but she couldn’t help glancing back and there he was, still watching her. He wagged a finger and laughed and said, ‘Gonna get you baby…’” ()

– Suitor who will woo Connie – Use Connie’s vanity and need to be liked by men

to seduce her

Arnold Friend

• Blends romance in order to appeal to a girl unsure of her identity – “I took a special interest in you, such a

pretty girl…We ain’t leaving until you come with us.”

– Uses her lack of identity to manipulate her

Arnold Friend

• A Fiend • “’I know your name and all about you. Lots of

things…I took a special interest in you, such a pretty girl, and found out all about you- like I know your parents and sister are gone somewhere and I know where and how long they’re going to be gone…” ( )

• Psychological and physical intimidation • Represents violence and evil

Appearance verses Reality

• The devil?– “His teeth were big and white”– “…how thick the lashes were, thick and black as if

painted with black tarlike material”– “-thirty, maybe more”– “…as if he were indeed wearing a wig”– “the boots must have been stuffed with something”

• Connie sees underneath the outward appearance• Hooves?• Marks the sign X - marking his victim • Seems unable to enter house without an invitation

Appearance verses Reality

• Sexual and emotional undertones• He assumes the role of a suitor• Reality is he will most likely rape and kill her

– “…I’m always nice at first, the first time. I’ll hold you so tight you won’t think you have to try to get away or pretend or anything because you’ll know you can’t. And I’ll come inside you where it’s all secret and you’ll give in to me and you’ll love me.

• Connie’s terror makes Arnold stronger • Realizes the futility in escape

Appearance verses Reality

• “She watched this smile come, awkward as if he were smiling from inside a mask. His whole face was a mask she thought wildly, tanned down to his throat but then running out as if he had plastered make-up on his face but had forgotten about his throat.”

– Did represent sexuality now fear and violence– House should provide security

• Arnold shows weakness in this thought • Reality of the violence in America

Appearance verses Reality

• Reality of situation– “’What are you going to do?’ ‘Just two things,

maybe three…But I promise it won’t last long and you’ll like me the way you get to like people you’re close to. You will. It’s all over for you here, so come on out.’”

• Recognizes the actual significance of physical beauty • Tone- Gothic horror• Effect of violence on human psyche • Only identity left for Connie is that of a victim

Appearance verses Reality

• Ellie Oscar – Transitions from harmless friend into a

threat of violence – Changing perception of both Friend and

Ellie– “’You want that telephone pulled out.’”

• Loyal follower with equal evil intent

Resolution?

• “…I’m not going to sleep in my bed again. Her bright green blouse was all wet…’The place where you came from ain’t there anymore, and where you had in mind to go is cancelled out. This place you are now-inside your daddy’s house- is nothing but a cardboard box I can knock down any time. You know that and always did know it.”– Loss of control and innocence we think we have control

over – Friend symbolizes sins – No matter how hard we try to control or handle our lives,

we are taken over by the outside world

Resolution?

• “’My Sweet little blue-eyed girl,’ he said in a half-sung that had nothing to do with her brown eyes but was taken up just the same by the vast sunlit reaches of the land behind him and on all sides of him so much that Connie had never seen before and did not recognize except to know that she was going to it.”– Title of song to entice her – What lays ahead for her?– Psychological realism– Gothic horror

Music • "... and listened to the music that made everything so good; the music

was always in the background, like music at a church service; it was something to depend upon.” [36]

• "Connie let the screen door close and stood perfectly still inside it, listening to the music from her radio and the boy's blend together.” [44]

• "Part of those words were spoken with a slight rhythmic lilt, and Connie somehow recognized them—the echo of a song from last year, about a girl rushing into her boy friend's arms and coming home again”

– Represents romantic aspects for Connie – Culture and time period Connie uses to dictate how she wants

others to see her