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Poor family structure and low adherence to moral provisions characterize modern societies. In the paper, poor family structure and low adherence to moral provisions are very practical. The title of the paper ‘Where are you going, where have you been’, which seeks to know the direction of one’s life in reference to the present position provides an insight into the contents that it wishes to present. By seeking to know the direction of one’s life, the paper uses characters that play a pivotal role in demonstrating the poor structures of modern families and unethical behaviors. The paper employs a lot of expertise to convey the message of the breaking structure that characterizes modern families. It is within this context that the essay analyses the paper titled ‘Where are you going, where have you been’ by Joyce Carol Oates and discuses the main element that it presents.
Fundamentally, the main element that is apparent in the essay is the breaking structure of families. From the onset, the paper presents a family that have a passive mother and a silent father who comes home after work takes his food and later goes to bed without paying attention to the progress of the family. Consequently, the paper also presents children, who have express freedom to visit places and mingle with others at will. Oates explains that although parents like Connie’s mother are not happy about the freedom accorded to the children such as Connie, she does little because of her passive character(2). From the paper, it is clear that other families also permit their kids to visit social places and do not monitor their behaviors. For instance, the father of Connie’s friend would take them to the city plaza and leave them to undertake activities of their choice before picking them at 11 pm.
In the paper, the breaking family structure has also led to a number of unethical activities that are evident from the characters. Individuals who visit Connie and harass her when parents attend a barbecue on Sunday demonstrate unethical behavior that is prevalent in modern societies. Instances of harassment in streets and homesteads are some of the factors that resonate with modern societies. While the acts are not permissible, they take effect because of the loose ties that families have with their children. Oates clarifies that the perpetrator, Arnold Friend, states categorically that he saw Connie at the town when she went visiting (7). As such, the breaking family structure is one of the factors that facilitate engagement of heinous and illegal behaviors. It is clear that the loose family fabric is a factor that has led to various criminal activities present in contemporary societies.
Guidance, care, and attention are deficient in the families presented in the contents of the paper. Deficiency of care, guidance, and attention is practical in current societies where parents leave their children at day-care centers or nursing homes in order to address the daily demands advanced by their busy schedules. While parents attend to their schedules, children grow with lots of deficiency in relation to guidance. Since parents are the first role models that children expect to watch as they grow, their absence, or passive nature leads to execution of activities that the children deem as right. In most cases, these activities are unethical. Moreover, absence of guidance renders the children defenseless in the face of a challenge. Notably, Connie, could not drive the perpetrators away, but instead, entertained them, a factor that contributed to her harassment (Oates 4). As such, the breaking family structure is an element that the author presents to the potential audience.
Another instance that coins the relevance of the element that concerns the breaking structure of families emanates from the time that children have out of school during the vacation. Since the parents have other issues that occupy their schedules, they leave the children to move freely without restrictions. The case presented by the paper provides a clear effect of the freedom that the boys had before harassing the young woman. Oates alludes that the time accorded to the boys was sufficient for them to do research on the activities executed by Connie and her parents (6). The time taken to undertake the research is a clear indication of the freedom that children have when they do not receive the required attention from their caregivers or parents. In addition, the acts that the boys undertake in the paper substantiate the essence of guiding and inculcating good moral values on children.
Notably, the paper focuses on the element of breaking family structure. By reading the paper, one gets to understand the effects, which take place when parents forego their duties and engage in activities that do not focus on the welfare of their children. In the paper, the father who is working keeps quiet upon arrival from work. On the other hand, the mother is passive. Apparently, the freedom that the children have during their vacation places them at vulnerable positions. The vulnerability becomes evident when a young man does research and finally visits Connie after spotting her in a nearby town. The message that the paper conveys to parents and caregivers is on the importance of monitoring the behavior of children and spending quality time with them.
Work Cited
Oates, Joyce. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?: Selected Early Stories. New Jersey, N.J.: Ontario Review Press, 1966. Print.
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