Joyce Carol OatessWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been

Fiction Analysis Paper: Where are you going, where have you been? Joyce Carol Oates’s Where are you going, where have you been? is a post-modernist story. The primary theme is childhood versus adulthood. The story explores Connie’s, the main character’s, ambivalence about adulthood. The plot of the story builds the theme. Throughout the story, Connie believes that she is playing 2 personas. One that is child-like, and innocent, and another that is lascivious and â€Å"adult-like† to the extent that she knows adultness. In the beginning, she is undoubtedly convinced that she wants adulthood; however, she doesn’t understand all the implications, and she becomes ambivalent when faced with the reality of adulthood, personified by the character†¦show more content†¦It’s safe to say that Connie’s conception of adulthood also includes a notion of â€Å"independence,† separate from her family, but accompanied by a male admirer. June’s personality and interests foil with Connie’s and their mother’s constant comparisons cause Connie to resent June, and because June lives with them, this also likely attests to her desire for pseudo-adulthood. Her father is completely uninvolved, and because Connie specificall y lacks the love of and closeness with her father, the pseudo-Freudian approach suggests that this could have a direct influence on her quest for pseudo-adulthood, which I defined as consisting of male attention, and her conception of independence. Now straying from her family, I’ll explain Eddie’s significance to the theme. Eddie gives the reader better insight into Connie’s character. The time Connie spends with Eddie in the alley shows the reader that her understanding of adulthood is lacking, and that she is just teetering around the line between childhood and adulthood, but keeping one foot neatly planted on childhood’s side. This becomes more obvious later in the story, once she encounters Arnold Fiend. Those 3 hours had to have been spent engaging in what was considered â€Å"adult-like,† but not quite adult. A lot couldn’t have happened, and the 2Show MoreRelatedJoyce Carol OatessWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?1554 Words   |  7 PagesMystical voices of unity and liberty filled the youths spirits in the 1960’s, sparking what may have been America’s â€Å"golden ages†. For baby boomers, however, the new generation was being poisoned by talks of rebellion and uprising. Joyce Carol Oates, the author of â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?†, begins by introducing Connie, a stereotypical 15 year-old in the 1960’s, who voices the arrogance of the youth. Connie’s passion for glancing at every reflective surface she passes by, her attempts