Where are you going,where have you been Bob Dylan Who is the main character ,Connie or Arnold Friend - Essay Example

Main Character Analysis The book’s topic words are from the Blue Café, a song done by Chris Rea. It is a short story frequently anthologized. According to Carol Oates, the book’s writer, her inspiration came from three murders committed in Tucson and Arizona carried out by Charles Schmid as well as the haunting lyrics of the song, ‘it’s all over now, baby blue’ written by Bob Dylan. Carol Oates mirrored many aspects of Bob Dylan in the story since she dedicated the book to him (Werlock, 26).

She describes Dylan as someone with wild hair, short statures an aspect that physically doubles character Arnold Friend, supposedly describing Dylan. The story revolves around Connie who is the main character. She is a beautiful young girl aged fifteen but self-absorbed. She ends up at odds with her mother and leaves the house without her parents’ knowledge. Arnold is a friend to Connie and works at a nearby restaurant. He is a darker version of somehow otherworldly figure type. While Connie’s parents are at a barbecue dinner elsewhere, Arnold heads to her home to take her out for dinner.

Connie is powerless and ultimately cannot defy Arnold’s compulsion. The story took place in 1960s and describes a lot about American life back in those days. Even though at one point, Connie discovers that Arnold is much older than he claims to be, she cannot do anything since there was no one at her rescue. In addition, he scares her to give into her demands by threatening to harm her and her family in case she does otherwise (35). This shows absence of law enforcing bodies that could protect all citizens of the United States of America.

In the story, Carol Oates brings about evocation of Bob Dylan with a meaningful purpose. The presence of richness within the setting of the story creates an improvement towards realizing a stabilized life. Furthermore, Oates brings out wealth in view of depicting a period where Americans were going somewhere, ‘where are you going?’ towards social revolution (54). Connie is also the main character because she is representing all the women in America. It was during this period when the American women were at the forefront of asserting about their rights and their impeding need to end their domination from men.

Oates uses Connie as the main character to portray the status of women in America during that period and their concerted efforts of claiming their sexuality in a manner that was never visible in the history of America.The story is at the center of Connie and all what revolves around her life. Oates used a woman character in order to put bring into light the struggles women underwent during those days in their quest for better living conditions. In her story, Oates, she frequently discusses the topic of adolescence and all the struggles that many young girls had to cope up with at the time of losing their sexual innocence and turning into a complete woman.

Particularly, the story tells of women adolescence struggles, anxieties, and the effects of their emotions. In conclusion, the story unruffled the predicaments of women and how men undervalued them in both their homes and in relationships with them. At some point, women questioned their position and role regarding their gender and sex in the society and Oates gives and exploration of these questions through ‘where are you going…’. Oates describes a simple answer of this miniature of social upheaval giving Connie as an example.

As a young woman coming from a country full of young women, she must face and confront all the questions of anxiety while in her process of transitioning into a complete woman (69).Work CitedWerlock, James. The Facts on File Companion to the American Short Story. New York:Infobase Publishing, 2010.