Analysis Of Joyce Carol Oates 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'

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According to the researchers at Chapin University 1,500 people were surveyed to find out some of society’s biggest fears. “ 57 percent of Americans fear child abduction… almost 60 percent are scared they will be victims of sexual assault… (Gorman). That is more than half of the people surveyed who fear this crime. Child abduction and sexual assault is real and does happen. It is not just a dream or fantasy that happens. It is a reality. Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” has been interpreted in abstract ideas. However, all these abstract ideas take away from the plain realism Oates bases her short story on to draw attention to the public awareness of teen predators. To interpret Oates story in realism contributes …show more content…
Even though it is stated that she wakes up in a haze, it is a minor detail in the mental state Connie is in. The plain realism displayed in the short story has a purpose to bring realistic events to the surface of reality and to set an example of how easy it happens. Interpreting this short story to that of a fantasy in a teenage girl’s head takes away the past, present, and future assault stories that bring the reader incite of these horrific crimes. One author comments that Connie is “... after all, at that confusing age when a girl feels,thinks,acts both like a child, put off by a possible lover, and like a women, attracted to him” (Schutz). This is categorizing all teen females in the same mindset when viewing males. Schultz asserts that “Connie represents an entire generation of young people who have grown up- or tried to- without the help of those bedtime stories which not only entertain the child, but also enable him or her vicariously to experience and work through problems which he will encounter in adolescence”(35). This is categorizing all teens in the same generation by saying since they were not exposed to fairy tales, they were not prepared for the problems they would run into. However, not all the everyday problems we encounter can be related back to the lessons learned in fairytales. Schulz states that “It is clear
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