Category: Where Are You Going Where Have You Been

You Aren’t Going Anywhere: A Feminist Critique of Joyce Carol Oates

The story “Where Are You Going, Where have You Been,” by Joyce Carol Oates, is the story about a young girl’s attempts who tries to gets free from the surrounding and acts accordingly, drawing the attention of a dangerous man. The main character in the story, Connie, lives in a small town with her mother, father, and Connie’s older sister. Although Connie is fifteen, she realizes that males find her attractive. She defines herself in opposition to her mother and sister, the former used to be beautiful, and the latter never was.

The unfortunate aspect of the story is that Connie plays up her attractiveness and plays the roll that other people want her to have, the one of a beautiful girl. Using a feminist critique, we can see how Connie leads herself to her unfortunate fate by allowing to be unwittingly trapped in the patriarchal gender roles of society.

The photograph of Connie’s mother where she was younger is a symbol of the emptiness that comes from defining oneself solely through one’s looks. Connie’s mom was a very attractive woman in her youth, but growing older, she lost those looks. When the mother sees the pictures of her daughter, she recognizes the beauty that she once had but lost. This is the major loss for the mother, since she apparently never learned to define herself in any other manner.

Once her looks were gone, there was nothing left of the woman. As such, she envies her own daughter’s physical attractiveness and acts in a mean way towards Connie. Her mother, who noticed everything and knew everything and who hadn’t much reason to look at her own face, is always scolding Connie for it. ‘Stop gawking at yourself. Who are you? You think you’re so pretty?’. (Oates)

Since her mother is obviously jealous of her, Connie feels as though she is right in valuing her looks in the way she does. To Connie, physical attractiveness is so important that nothing else seems to matter, so she doesn’t hold any regard for what other people might have to offer. Instead of listening to anything that her mother has to say, Connie feels as though she can simply dismiss anything that her mother might have to say to her, which is simply another way for a woman to keep herself trapped.

For example, she can hardly believe that the woman in the pictures is really her mother: Her mother was pretty too, if one could believe those old snapshots in the album, but now her looks were gone and that is why she has always been after Connie. For Connie, being beautiful is simple, the state which you are to inherit, and like all young and immature people, she doesn’t have any idea how easily it can be lost, whether slowly over time like her mother did, or having it suddenly and violently ripped away from her.

The thing that she ran away with a boy foolishly led Connie to believe that she matured further than her older sister and anyone else in her own age group. It appears to almost be a game for her, but when she finally realized what the price of her desires were, it was too late.

Being only fifteen, Connie has yet to realize that she has defined herself by the way other people view her, which is through her looks only. She has become trapped in her own assets, and this stunts her growth as a whole person. While she views herself as using these tools to her advantage, in reality she is doing nothing but harming herself and her ability to survive in life.

While at times Connie gets excited and enjoys the attention that she receives, she quickly realizes how terrifying unwanted attention of this kind from the wrong person can be. When Arnold Friend tells her that he was “Gonna get you, baby,” she quickly realizes that not only she is trapped, but she has been trapped all that time by allowing herself to be defined in such a manner. What Arnold does is to treat her as a mere physical attribute, thus, neglecting her personality.

He thinks he has the right to do the horrible things with her: Arnold Friend stabs her with words again and again with no regret. After that she becomes withdrawn form the rest of the world. Once it happens to her, she no longer has any forces to struggle, live and survive. We can see Connie’s unequivocal surrendering and resignation when she allows people to treat her as an object but not a person, that is something that she has been allowing to do to herself all those years unconsciously.

At the end of the story, she has completely broken away from herself and any sense of self-identity; she views the events as though they are happening to somebody else and not to her: “She put out her hand against the screen. She watched herself push the door slowly open as if she were back safe somewhere in the other doorway, watching this body and this head of long hair moving out into the sunlight where Arnold Friend waited.” (Oates)

The story does not have a clear ending, we see Connie fully losing herself and becoming fully trapped within this patriarchal system represented by the terrible and dangerous Arnold Friend. This main aspect of Connie completely breaking away from herself and surrendering herself and her sense of identity is what we need to realize from this story which shows the readers the dangers that women face in a prison of patriarchy.

Works Cited

Oates, Joyce Carol, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Epoch, Fall 1996, https://celestialtimepiece.com/2015/01/21/where-are-you-going-where-have-you-been/

You Aren’t Going Anywhere: A Feminist Critique of Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates is considered to be one of the most captivating authors. Her novels and short stories introduce numerous themes, which are significant for both men and women of any age. Her “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” was written in the 1960s as a kind of response to the events in Arizona, connected to the times, when one man raped and killed several girls. This essay shall analyze the main scenes and the ending of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”

This is why realism and real-life cruelty are the things, which are inherent to this story and turn out to be significant points for any time. The main character in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Connie, is a 15-year-old girl, and Arnold Friend, the antagonist, is an adult man. The interactions, which happen between Arnold Friend and Connie and several rather provoking moments connected with Connie’s young age, immaturity, and her family’s lack of understanding, lead the story and Connie’s life to a tragic end.

Lots of students and ordinary readers find “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” as an educative story that “captures so well their sense of rebellion against their patriarchal mothers, in particular, and family and society in general” (Doll, 94). Lots of young girls try to become independent earlier than it is possible. They try to pay the attention of other people to their appearance, their hair cut, and their style, but they do not comprehend that their behavior is not that appropriate.

What happens to Connie in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”?Connie faces specific problems within her own house: her mother cannot comprehend her daughter’s intentions and always compares her with her sister. The mother does not want to search for the necessary way to help her daughter; she just let Connie be more closely to the cultural phenomenon and be under threat to choose the wrong way. “She was fifteen and she had a quick, nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people’s faces to make her own was all right” (Oates, 25).

To my mind, this very age requires thorough attention from the parents’ side: a child should feel her relatives’ care and support. If there is no chance to find such kind of care, the child starts paying attention to numerous real-life examples and does not have an opportunity to comprehend what is wrong and what is right. This is what resulted in the conflict in the book. This is why this lack of parents’ comprehension and support is one of the crucial reasons, which cause Connie’s tragic end.

As Connie does not see any support from her family’s side as they “fail to become involved in a meaningful way in her life” (Seibel, 367), she starts searching for something outside. As the analysis essay on “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” shows, Arnold Friend turns out to be one of those people, who were eager to provide this little girl with the necessary support. His criminal past and his cruel intentions are not the main reasons, which may lead to the tragic end. To my mind, they are just the other consequences, which appear as a result of family situations and personal uncertainty.

I do agree with the author’s ideas for the relations between the members of the family. If parents are not able to provide their child with the necessary support, this child may face numerous troubles and unpleasant situations, which lead to the tragic end. The analysis of the main scenes and the ending of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” shows that, with the help of one concrete case, Joyce Oates demonstrates how one or two misunderstandings may influence the future of a person, the prospect of a child.

As is clear from the summary, Arnold’s criminal past and his terrible attitude to other people, young ladies, in particular, is not the reason that leads to Connie’s tragic end. Connie’s family, parents’ inattentiveness, and teenage culture – these are the major factors that result in the tragic end of the major character of the story under consideration.

Works Cited

Doll, Mary, A. Like Letters in Running Water: A Mythopoetics of Curriculum. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000.

Oates, Joyce, C. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Rutgers University Press, 1994.

Seibel, Hugo, R., Guyer, Kenneth, E., Conway, Carolyn, M. Barron’s MCAT: Medical College Admission Test. Barron’s Educational Series, 2008.

Introduction

The short stories “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates disclose the sudden realization of facts about life by two young female characters. When people encounter incredibly horrifying or disturbing situations or face facts about their conditions, and especially when the outcomes posed by the sudden realizations are not predictable, they tend to change greatly viewing life from different perspectives.

The paper compares and contrasts the epiphanies of the major characters in the two short stories giving an account of what triggers the epiphanies in each of them and further addressing the insights that the characters arrive at about themselves, human conditions and the world at large.

Differences

In Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson”, although she does not admit it, the main character Sylvia, a young girl learns a lesson about how life really is after the trip to the Toy store sponsored by Miss Moore, the young girl’s neighbor. Earlier on in her life, the young girl is just as cheeky as other little girls are and never stops to wonder about her situation.

Her experiences of the trip to Toy store where Miss Moore takes them changes her perception about the society they are living in. Her friend Sugar seems to echo her thoughts when she says, “Imagine for a minute what kind of society it is in which some people can spend on a toy what it would cost to feed a family of six or seven. What do you think?”(Bambara 5). Through this trip, that she realizes that the society is not as fair as she thinks and that something is worth doing as Miss Moore always says.

This shapes her epiphany and motivation to working hard and taking Miss Moore’s advice seriously. The epiphany experienced by the main character Connie in the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” is somehow different from this in that Connie has got no way out, hence the force into giving in to the rapist Arnold Friend’s demands since her fate seems completely determined.

The freedom provided to her by her parents lands her into the hands of the rapist and a potential serial killer. She reflects back on her previous and current living style and wonders whether it will ever take after the life of her dreams. She comes to the realization of declaring the shape of her as determined by the rapist. Her epiphany seems different from that of Sylvia in The “lesson” in that she resigns into her fate by herself face whatever that may happen.

The epiphany of the character Sylvia in “The Lesson” comes because of the challenge that she gets when Miss Moore her neighbor takes her for window-shopping together with kid friends in the neighborhood. This challenge shapes the perception of the kids towards life since they do not put much thinking into it.

Their childish nature has blocked their sight in that they do not experience things evident in the society such as class differences. After the encounter at the toyshop, the kids come into the realization that life is much more than just kidding around and not taking things seriously.

The epiphany shows the fact that the kids now realize how their lives seem different from that of others that of others and that they should not behave as they do. In the short story ‘Where are you Going and Where Have You been”, Connie’s epiphany is not really an epiphany considering the fact it seems motivated by regrets of the freedom she receives from her parents and which she misuses.

Rather than reciprocating on her parents, trusting effectively and going where she claims: to the movies, she takes the advantage to go to clubs where people like the rapist and the serial killer Arnold’s friend identifies and targets her. She falls prey of her misfortunes because of her deviant behavior and neglect.

One can attribute the conditions that lead to the epiphany of the young character Sylvia in the short story “The Lesson” by Bambara to her behavior and too the manner in which the society organizes itself. Sugar who is her friend echoes her thoughts when she says, “I think… that this is not much of a democracy if you ask me.

Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, doesn’t it?”(Bambara 5 ) implying the fact that the kid comes to realize the unfairness of the society after all as she does, though earlier on in her life.

Though she still has four dollars that belongs to Miss Moore, she does not feel good after this realization of how the society seems so unfair. On the other hand, the teenage Connie succumbs to her fate because of her own defiant behavior. Had she taken heed to her mother’s concern, as the case appears with her elder sister, she would have avoided the misfortunes that befall her. Further, should she have gone to the movies avoiding the club, she would have not met Arnold’s friend.

Therefore, on that eventful Sunday, she would have accompanied her parents and sister to the barbecue avoiding the encounter with the rapist. Anyway, experience, as people say, passes for the best teacher and fortune knocks at least once to every person’s door.

The seemingly trivial fact of the prize of a toy triggers Sylvia’s epiphany giving her the realization that her freedoms have a limit economic wise and that she cannot get everything that she wishes. Even the cheapest toy in the toy store, which goes for thirty-five dollars is worth the rent that the family pays for the house that they live in.

The realization provokes more thoughts in her head to the extent that she starts experiencing headache. Connie’s world on the other hand seems to flow as she wishes it to until the unexpected happens. A stranger who seems to know everything about her shows up and starts demanding that they go out for a ride. At first, she does not take him seriously until he reminds her that she can do nothing to stop him from doing whatever he wants to do with her.

The realization induces to her a feeling of hopeless that leads Connie to start reflecting upon her life seeing how it has been like and how different it will be after her encounter with Arnold ‘s Friend. The case appears more different considering her lack of certainty of her fate as the case seems with Sylvia in “The Lesson”. The aforementioned epiphanies too feature some striking similarities.

Similarity

The two characters from the different stories come to the realization that they have been viewing life differently from how it actually is and that their futures would not be the same again. In addition, the two as portrayed in the stories, have lived a life of carelessness blinded by their youth.

For instance, in the story “The Lesson”, the character Sylvia and her friends never looks at life from the perspective of what it holds for them neither do they consider what their future would be like. Instead, they think that their childish adventures will shape their life. For instance, they never imagine of things such as having a desk for doing homework as important (Bambara 3).

Similarly, in the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” Connie’s life is never inclusive of any serious considerations prior to the appearance of the rapist Arnold Friend. Life seems characterized by girlish adventures, boys, clothes, as well as her looks. She really portrays so little sense such that she only values her deviance. Therefore, her encounter opens her eyes about the other things that can happen to her despite the tragic and suspended ending of the story without hinting on what happens to her next.

Insights

The two girls come to the realization that what has earlier on formed their world is a mirage. What they cared for was themselves and nothing more. Sylvia in “The Lesson” has never thought of the existence of any limits to her freedom since that is the level of her exposure before Miss Moore takes her out, together with her friends. Certain realities such as the existence of social classes seemed unclear to her before.

She says, “So we heading down the street and she’s boring us silly about what things cost and what our parents make and how much goes for rent and how money…the part about we all poor and live in the slums, which I don’t feature”(Bambara 2). Connie on the other hand never thought of the existence of any bad people in her world. She had trusted any one to the extent that the night when she first encounters Arnold’s Friend, she never considers seriously the threats that he issues to her.

Conclusion

The epiphanies of the two characters in the short stories have more differences than similarities because the short story by Joyce Carol Oates lacks a proper ending leaving the reader to speculate on what happens next to the character Connie who falls in the hands of a rapist and a potential serial killer. There is no clarity whether Connie survives the encounter to experience the change as per the epiphany.

Works Cited

Bambara, Tony. Black Woman: An Anthology. Washington: Washington Square Press, 2005.