Religious and Mythical Symbolism of Where Are You Going, Where Have You been - Essay Example

Religious and Mythical symbolism The story reflects that anything that is in excess is always harmful. The main character in the story is Connie. She is portrayed as having surplus self-confidence. This confidence led to a deceiving sense of security and a poor reputation. She had a bad choice; she did pretty well in impressing boys with her appearance and beauty (Oates, 17). The story is a cautionary tale written by Joyce. Carol Oates. From the story we learn a lot when they have a bad ending. Through the story, it is crucial for all ladies to be careful the way they present themselves, since wrong attitude can drive you to a wrong person. In “Where are you Going, Where have you been?” the tale of a romantic but insecure teenage girl drawn into situation of violence. The article presents various themes that come from the interaction of drawn characters that are involved in psychological manipulation. Connie is seen to be a skilled flirt without experience in situations she cannot handle. Connie is confident when Arnold Friend knocks on her door while alone in the house. This is evident when she asks him who the hell he thinks he is. Connie mistakes Arnold friend for the type of person she normally attacks; she dreads she identifies him from the horn of his car, appearance, and clothing and from banter that uses to lure her (Oates, 66). Both Connie and Arnold contribute to the mistaken first impression. Arnold takes the position of Romeo despite being older, and Connie accepts the façade of Arnold since she is fond of trashy daydreams which the mother accuses her for. The story is told from the perspective of Connie; therefore, readers are exposed to gradual dismantling of the first impression from her eyes. Connie concludes that the hair of Arnold might be a wig, his tan is an outcome of makeup, and the boots are stuffed with things to look taller. Although the allegations of the observations are never proven, the realization of Connie is revealed that he is not what he is. That the romantic words of Arnold are fake, but sourced from songs and his behavior is that of movie heroes. Arnold has nothing that is original except his rough intentions, physical intimidation, and psychological skills. At the end of the story, she understands she is powerless not a confident flirt as seen before. She is vulnerable to the manipulations of Arnold Friend since she has no vivid identification. During her teenager days she is not categorized as either child or a woman. She tries to establish her identification by trying the limits set by her parents. She assumes a different persona in the midst of her family members than when she is with the friends, and seeks verification of her charms from men in the restaurant ((Oates, 15). Connie identify seeks her worth as a girl with physical feature, a feature that makes her disparage the sister, fight the mother, and involve in behaviors of craning her neck to see faces of other people to confirm that she is right. Connie’s habit is similar to teenagers who seek for attention. Though her encounter with Arnold Frined is extreme, Oates came up with a situation that portrays how unstable element can make a girl vulnerable to exploitation by people who understand how to feed their own desires and interests. She is practiced by acting the pretty girl’s stereotype. When Arnold seeks her opinion on the things girls need to do to be pretty, sweet and give in, we see her feeling helpless but to comply. Connie has an unstable identity that offered her with a perception that portrayed her as a suitable victim for Arnold’s murderous and sexual designs. In the availability of villain, her propensity to flirt becomes a trait described as the fatal character. Connie was not familiar with reasoning and logic arising from a centered and strong identity. She is manipulated by Arnold’s psychological skills, and hence complicit in her demise. She assumes that since Arnold acts and looks like other boys; therefore, she fears nothing from him (Oates, 32). Connie is drawn by Arnold’s flattery, planned by his allegations that he knows everything about her. When the violent intentions of Arnold became apparent, he had gained a psychological upfront over her that he mixes with threats, hypotonic tone, and romantic language that she takes and alleged as incarnations. Arnolds strips Connie her selfhood that she has by revealing to her who she really is. He reveals that Connie is a nice, pretty, and sweet girl. By the time Connie surrenders to Arnold, he had already undermined her personal senses to the extent that she is left with none. Connie only 15 years portrays the confusing, often behavior similar to those people facing hard transition from a girl to a woman. Connie is vain, rebellious, deceitful, and self-centered. She is in a difficult position between her responsibilities as sister, friend, daughter, and a tool of sexual desire. Connie is deeply romantic, seen from her cognizance of lyrics of popular songs, but she is interested in the concept of having boyfriends. Connie sees boys who have interest in her to be conquest who diminished into faces that are an idea. All these characters make her to be vulnerable to manipulation of Arnold Friend. A more complicated reading of her character includes hope for pushing herself beyond her self-centeredness ((Oates, 67). At the end of the story, the writer points out that she is vulnerable to unexpected gesture of being a hero, when she points out the compliance with Arnold will shun him from implicating her family. At the beginning of the story, Arnold is describes as boy having a shaggy black hair in a painted gold convertible. He came to notice Connie in the restaurant. He assumes many traits in the story. He is portrayed as soft-spoken suitor, whose Connie approved his appearance due to his familiar face. Arnold is a potential murderer and rapist who manipulate people psychologically to appeal the vanity of Connie. The most shocking thing about him is that he mixes the romance elements in appealing women, making them to unsure of his identity. Many have criticized him as a devil in disguise. He had problems in balancing his small feet and his makeup disguised him to look younger that he actually is. He told Connie that he is 18 years old, although she looks to be 30 (Oates, 25). Other characters that were in the story include Connie’s mother. She use to compare June and Connie. She disapproved the behavior of Connie and believed that her actions and dressing are promiscuous than those of 15 year old girl. Conversely, Connie believed that the conflict arises from the resentment of her mother’s beauty and youth. Nevertheless, the mother tried to trust Connie. The trust is interpreted by her simplicity since she thinks that her mum believes the misconceptions about where she is going and where she is been. The story is a cautionary tale written by Joyce. Carol Oates. From the story we learn a lot when they have a bad ending. Through the story, it is crucial for all ladies to be careful the way they present themselves, since wrong attitude can drive you to a wrong person. From the story, we see strong connection with the mother at the end when she cries for her mother and thought that she will never see the mother again. This means that her rejection of her mother is only but a teenage defiance. Reference Oates, Joyce Carol. Where are you going, where have you been? selected early stories. Princeton [N.J.: Ontario Review Press; 1993. Print. Oates, Joyce Carol, and Elaine Showalter. "Where are you going, where have you been?” New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1994. Print. Oates, Joyce Carol. Where Ive been and where Im going: essays, reviews, and prose. New York, N.Y.: Plume, 1999. Print. Read More