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For example within the poem this group of speakers "left school" (line 2) it is implied, because they had more "adult' things to do, like "Lurk late" (line 3), play pool, and hang out drinking through the night. Moreover, in this same tone these speakers just as nonchalantly predict (that as a result of their past and present actions combined) they will also "die soon" (line 8). It is as if death itself is no less casual than playing a game of pool together.
But in fact the lifestyle decisions they have made are the opposite of the adult self-discipline and willingness to delay gratification it takes to stay in school instead of drop out, study instead of stay out with friends all night, and be responsible instead of reckless. Just as Joyce carol Oates's protagonist Connie does not take seriously that the wolfish Arnold might indeed come over to her house, Brooks' subjects in "We Real Cool" seem not to take seriously the idea that the decisions they...
In both of these pieces of literature, a main character or group of poetic subjects take themselves and their self-perceived maturity seriously; yet the immaturity of their actions, reactions and decisions reveals that they are not adults at all.
Works Cited
Brooks, Gwendolyn. "We Real Cool." Poemhunter.com. 12 Dec. 2007 www.poemhunter.com/poem/we-real-cool/html
Oates, Joyce Carol. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? "Celestial
Timepiece: A Joyce Carol Oates Homepage. 12 Dec. 2007 http://jco usfca.edu/works/wgoing/text.html>
Works Cited
Brooks, Gwendolyn. "We Real Cool." Poemhunter.com. 12 Dec. 2007 www.poemhunter.com/poem/we-real-cool/html
Oates, Joyce Carol. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? "Celestial
Timepiece: A Joyce Carol Oates Homepage. 12 Dec. 2007 http://jco usfca.edu/works/wgoing/text.html>
Oates' story, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? is one that has sparked the interest of numerous commentators who have read a multiplicity of views into the plot and characters? Some have seen the story as cautionary tale to teenagers. Others have read Jungian or Freudian archetypes into the story, whilst others have packed it with psychological insight. Certainly, Oates has skillfully used her background, motifs and other
Oates Arnold Friend is a Stalker There are many nebulous aspects to Joyce Carol Oates short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been," for example, the origins of Connie's troubled relationship with her mother (is it strictly a jealousy thing?), the peculiarity of Arnold Friend's last name (what kind of friend is he?), the relevance of those secret numbers that Arnold Friend rattles off ("33, 19, 17") or even why
Where Are You Going this assignment did not pass the instructors critique-her comments below: anthony, Thank sharing group project contributions. Your team a good job discussing text managing responsibilities group tasks group discussion board / group live chat, Suburban tragedy: The character of Connie in Joyce Carol Oates' "Where are you going, where have you been?" In her short story "Where are you going, where have you been?" Joyce Carol Oates describes the fate
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? A failure to communicate The heroine of Joyce Carol Oates "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is a young woman who has only just begun to understand the power of her sexuality. Like so many young girls, fifteen-year-old Connie is simultaneously an adult and a teenager: "Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere
superficiality of appearances in Oates vs. Hawthorne Both the protagonists of Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" And Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" experience revelations over the course of their respective tales about the societies in which they inhabit. Connie, Oates' heroine, learns that the image of teenage sexuality which she believes to be quite powerful is actually very vulnerable and leaves her open to
The absence of religious lifestyle in the family is an emphasis to the centrality of religion in the life of adolescents and is brought out as the possible wedge that may be there between evil and good. Here, Arnold Fiend could be seen as the embodiment of the devil in his boots that looked odd giving an evil angle and a hidden identity giving him a satanic look. The continued