Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Comparing and Contrasting Fiction and Real Life:
The Character of Connie in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
by Joyce Carol Oates
The fate of the character of Connie in Joyce Carol Oates has always seemed particularly poignant to me, because she reminds me of one of my close friends from high school. Connie is a beautiful young woman who, for a brief period in her life, feels powerful because of the beauty she has and the hold it seems to give her over other people. She comes across as sexually aware and self-confident. But she looks much older than she is and when she attracts the attention of the wrong sort of man, it is implied that she comes to a tragic end at the conclusion of the story. Fortunately, my friend never met an Arnold Friend-style character. But she did often attract attention from older men. Because she did not want to hurt their feelings, she was afraid to strongly rebuff them.
The character of Connie in Oates’ story is admittedly less likeable than my friend. Connie has a less attractive older sister June. Unlike June, Connie refuses to help out at home and complains...
Because she is more attractive than her older mother, Connie believes she holds the upper hand in the relationship, much like she does with June, and although Connie’s mother nags her, she really does not know how to manage her daughter and make her listen to her. She resents her daughter, but her anger merely drives her daughter away from adult authority.
In the case of my friend, her relationship with her parents was strong. But sometimes strange adults would make comments, such as asking if she had a boyfriend, or even flirting with her in an appropriate way. Although I did not realize it at the time, I think it seems like a strange way for an adult to behave to any age of teenager, given that a teen is still technically a child and the adult is in a position of trust. Oates’ story and my friend’s experience highlights how when a teenager, particularly a beautiful teenage girl, looks older, adults can forget the responsibility they have as adults. Just because someone looks a certain age on the outside does not…
Works Cited
Oates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Web. February 22, 2019.
https://www.cusd200.org/cms/lib/IL01001538/Centricity/Domain/361/oates_going.pdf
Although one could write a gritty, objective tale about either boxing or farm workers, and although Joyce could have interviewed either the authors she critiques or the boxers she chronicles, her concerns are now more of a metaphysical nature, and her prose reflects this -- Joyce is now less a writer in the field of contemporary journalist, than a cultural critic who considers her subjectivity a strength rather than
The system, the attorneys and the jury seem to be too biased in their assessment of the case, obviously swerving from the real purpose that any trial should have, that is, reaching justice. Racism which is inherently present even in modern, present-day society is even a part of the system of justice, as Oates observes. Instead of a fair outcome, the result of the trial is the huge confusion
Joyce Carol Oates sees "The Picture of Dorian Gray" as a revelation as to another side of Wilde; one that questioned the aestheticism professed by Lord Henry and other characters in the novel. She claims that the book evokes Faust and the devil, as the portrait of Dorian Gray was surely evil and the aesthetic beauty of Dorian corrupted by demonic influence. In this light, A Picture of Dorian Gray is
Joyce Carol Oates and the Traits of the Mid-Twentieth Century Writer Just as society changes over time, writing changes over time. Writers today rarely write in the same forms as Shakespeare once did. As well as style, the subjects of writing change, with this expected since society has changed over time. For example, it is hardly likely that Shakespeare would have written about the issue of feminism. Even looking at writing
Joyce Carol Oates story, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? The writer of this paper explores why society sometimes punishes those who are different using the story as an example. Society has always treated people who are differently with a less welcome attitude than those who are like everybody else. It has held true in almost every life setting from school classrooms, to work environments to social gatherings.
Worried about You," by Joyce Carol Oates. Specifically, it will summarize the story, and the characters in the story. "We Were Worried about You" is a story of family, but it is also a story of what people ignore in their lives, and how it affects them. WE WERE WORRIED ABOUT YOU The characters in Oates short story are seemingly a normal and happy middle class family. They identify with their