Where Are You Going Where Have You Been - Joyce Carol Oates - Research Paper Example

“Where are you going where have you been” Joyce carol Oates “Where are you going where have you been” is a story written by Joyce Oates in the 1960s. The story is about an older man whose intention is to hurt teenage girls. The teenage girl Connie was raised in a decent family. However, he ended up having a miserable life after fighting for freedom. The girl is obsessed with her looks and popular culture which landed her into problems (Oates 17). She makes fun of older people and constantly argues with her mother because she wanted freedom. In the story, Connie represents the dangers of rebellion, feminism, and allusion of teenagers in the mid 1960’s. 1964 (Civil Right Act) The story is reflection of the dangers faced by people during the Civil Rights movement during the mid 1960s. During this period, people started challenging the moral and social conventions after the World War II. This was a time of Civil Right Movement and popular cultures. Some of the incidences that proved the dangers of rebellion includes JFK killing. a. JFK assassination/ Lyndon B. Johnson signs Civic rights. Just like Connie in the story, JFK died for being rebellious during the same era in which Oates wrote her story. Lyndon and Kennedy were both the presidents of the United States who fought for Civil rights. Kennedy supported the campaign against racial segregation and supported civil rights. However, he later distanced himself from the movements because many Southern Whites were not happy. He thought it would be difficult to pass civil rights laws with the strong opposition from the whites. Fighting for civil right led to his killing in the year 1963. Lyndon also fought by signing the civil right bill which prohibited discrimination on racial grounds (Gaines 3). b. Martin Luther king/ Malcolm X Oates was also inspired to write her book during the time of Martin Luther and Malcolm X. The two leaders demonstrated the dangers of rebellion during the era of civic right movements. Malcolm was rebellion because he used violence when fighting for freedom and rights of his supporters. He supported civil right in a violent way. This led to his assassination in the year 1965. His character is reflected in Connie in the story. It was important for Connie to get her freedom. However, she acquired it in a wrong way. Martin Luther also supported civil rights. However, he did not believe in violence. He fought for freedom in harmonious and passive way. However, he was still opposed the existing laws. He rebel against racist and lack of freedom in a verbal way. His fight for civil right led to his assassination during the same era Oates wrote her book (Gaines 2). c. Status of women 1950’s In addition, Oates was motivated to write his book by feminism movements during the 1960s. Rosie was among those who fought to change the position of females to the society in the 1950s. Just like Connie, Rosie wanted women to become independent. Connie fought constantly with her mother because she wanted the freedom to make decisions concerning her life like other adult females. Rosie wanted to reduce females’ dependent on males by encouraging them to work. Just like Connie, she was seen an icon of feminism. She suffered while trying to change the society in order to make females acquire economic power (Holt 1). Joyce Carol Oates back ground and how she established her writing The book is also a reflection of the authors’ backgrounds. Most of the events in the book reflect her experiences during the 1960s. The presentation of popular culture in the book was similar to the popular culture in Oates time (Chamess, 2010). For instance, the music listened and the dressing styles of the characters in the story were common during time when she was writing the book. She also wrote the book at the time when female rights were very controversial. From the year 1960s to 1970s there were many women’s movements. There was an economic shift since many females had started working in factories. During this time the Equal Rights Amendments were also implemented (Chamess, 2010). a. The pied Piper of Tucson Apart from the events that took place during the 1960s, the author also got her writing ideas from other literature. An example of such pieces of literature includes “The Pied Piper of Tucson”. This is a story of serial killer called Charles. He was an old man who went after adolescent girls just like Arnold Friend in the story. Oates’ inspiration in the story was not the brutality of the serial killer, but the behaviors of the teenage girls. Oates book does not focus much on the actions of Arnold Friend. She focused much on the bad behaviors of Connie who helped Arnold Friend hurt her. Connie was brought up in a decent family. However, just like other teenagers who have been negatively influenced by the popular culture, she could not follow her mother’s instructions. Her obsession for freedom made her suffer just like the adolescent girls in the “Life Magazine” Story. Charles behaviors in the story that inspired Oates are similar to that of Arnold friend. Charles killed a high school student who also wanted to have adventures by going out with the killer’s friend just like Connie. Connie wanted to have fun with Arnold Friend because of peer influence. In depth about Connie & Arnold friend a. How Connie represent danger of rebellion Connie’s experience in the story is a representation of how being rebellious exposes one to danger. She is among the characters in the book that support the theme of rebellion. Connie was very rebellious just like many adolescent children. She argues with her sister and mother about her dress code and other bad behaviors. She even refused to go for a vacation with her family in favor of having fun with her male friends. She is rebellious because she thinks she is old and wise enough to make the right decisions. She even tries to change her dressing style in order to look older. This is because popular music and dream had influenced her views of love and romance. However, she ended up being hurt by Arnold Friend. During the 1960s, many young Americans had become rebellious because they suspected their parent’s dreams were unachievable due to the many political and social issues which faced the society at that time (Lamb 5). b. How Arnold friend in a way of anti feminist put girls in fear. Arnold can be viewed as a man who was against feminist during Oates time. It seems that he was punishing Connie for having sexual feeling. The scenario represents men who hindered females from their freedom to express themselves. In addition, it represents a male-dominated society. Just like in the 1960s women were not free to fight for their rights because they feared men. This is seen in the story where Arnold made Connie to fear him so that he could get what he wanted. This is a reflection of a patriarchal society where women face oppression. Feminists suffered during Oates time. Before the Equal Rights Amendments were implemented females face forces from anti-feminists just like Connie in the story (Martin 54). How the story relates to a. Feminism The story relates to feminism in various ways. It shows how females experience pressure of increasing their self-worth by improving their physical appearances. Connie was struggling to change her look in order to impress boys just like many teenagers in the popular society. Arnold’s reaction to Connie’s behaviors of trying to change her self-worth shows how some men take advantage of female’s misguided notions of self-worth by exploiting them emotionally. In addition, the story relates to feminism because it reflects men’s power over women and how females still depend on men. Connie was punished for expressing her sexual desires like boys which was unacceptable in the society. Connie also increased her self-worth by getting more attention from men. This is a representation of men domination in the society (Graham, 1). b. Rebellion Rebellion also contributed to the climax of the story. If Connie had not been rebellious she would not have suffered in the hands Arnold. Connie was rebellious to the societal norm because of her extreme sexuality. Popular culture had led many teenagers to the path of rebellion where they encounter painful reality. c. Allusion The story relates to allusion in various ways. It shows how young girls try to present themselves as mature and wise people when in reality they are naive. Connie’s encounter with Arnold reveals to the audience that she was only trying to act as an adult. This was proved when she was taken into adulthood by Arnold. She realizes that her ideas of love as presented by popular music were not real. Arnold dressed like a young man in order to fulfill Connie’s fantasies. However, he turned out to be a devil. Conclusion Oates story is a reflection of how rebellion is disastrous. The story is a representation of the civil right movement in the mid 1960s. Before the Civil Rights Act was implemented, there were many rebellious movements led by leaders such as Malcolm X and JFK. The assassination of the leaders proves the dangers of rebellion. Other equal rights movements such as feminism that made some female teenagers rebellious. The effects of rebellion are mirrored in Oates story through the main character Connie who suffered for disobeying her parents and for her extreme sexuality. The events and popular culture made many teenagers in the 1960s to be disobedient. Joyce was inspired to write her story by her background and other stories such as “The Piped of Tucson”. Works Cited Charmess, Daniel. BeatleBoomers: The Beatles in their Generation. Wesleyan University. 2010. Web. 4 July 2014. Gaines, Kevin. The Civil rights movement in world perspective. American Journal. Vol 11 (3). 2007. Web. 4 July 2014. Graham, Gael. Flaunting the Freak Flag. Journal of American History. Vol 91 (2). 2004.Web. 4 July 2014. Holt, Jennifer. The Ideal Woman. Journal of American History. Vol 3 (1). 2009. Web. 4 July 2014. Lamb, Vanessa. The 1950s and 1960s and the American Woman: The transition from the “housewife” to the feminist. 2012. Web. 4 July 2014. Martin, Christopher. The Naturalized Gender Order of Rock and Roll. Journal of Communication Inquiry. Vol 19 (1):53-74. 2005. Web. 4 July 2014. Oates, Joyce. "Where are you going, where have you been". New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ. Press, 1994. Print. Read More