Example Of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” By Joyce Carol Oates Essay

1. In what ways does the story have a sense of male power and female powerlessness? The sense of female powerlessness comes to the fore at the end of the story, when Connie feels she cannot withstand the aggravating pressure from Arnold and eventually surrenders. As he is blindly driven by beastly sexual desire, Connie’s beauty is seen as the reason of her female vulnerability and physical as well as moral paralysis. Connie drowned in the ocean of utter despair when she decided that paying such a high price for her sexuality was the only way to protect her nearest and dearest. As for Arnold, his intimidating manliness is vividly exhibited in his vulgar compliments and later cold-blood threats, which gave Connie no other alternative but to yield to his blatantly sexual thirst, sacrificing the sweet years of adolescence and venturing the upcoming years of possibly a happy life.
2. Dark undertones aside, in what sense is this simply a story about the coming of age of a typical 1960`s teenager? The theme of the story centers on the illusion that millions of teenagers regard realistic, as it is depicted in the image of pop-rock culture. Listening to her favorite music, Connie was picturing the story of her love in the lyrics of her beloved songs. She thought that her beauty was the only thing that mattered. And so it was, since the 1960s was the age of teenage revolution, deviation from socially acceptable teenage conduct and proclamation of cultural as well as sexual freedom, all exemplified by the ‘hippie’ movement. Living in the fantasy of popular songs, boys and girls dressed the same, talked the same and thought the same, as they firmly believed that it was the proper way to speak up. In this sense, the story conveys the dominant trends that affected the lives of those enthralled by them.