Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

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Communication is a process that develops human relationship. A mother develops this relationship when the child is still in her womb. Researches state that this communication forms a nurturing bond between mother and baby during early infancy (NCT Research Overview 1). After the birth of the baby, the communication between parents and the toddler helps to develop child’s native language. Good parent child communication helps children building ability to distinguish right from wrong. Communication between parents and children plays a significant role in bringing up a child, especially during the adolescence. Adolescence is complex period of a child's life. It is the time when children start living in their psychological world. Parents can come to this world only through proper …show more content…
Even though it sounds simple, but it is not an easy task to enter to the children’s psychological world at adolescence. It becomes even harder if there is a communication gap between parents and children. In many cases, we see that the communication that starts in infancy stops dead in its track at adolescence (Osterweil 1). This is when a teenager desperately shouts: “My parents don’t understand a word I’m saying (Osterweil 1)” This is a result of communication gap between parents and child. Readers see the same communication gap between Connie and her parents in Joyce Carol Oates short story “Where are you going, Where have you been?” Oates, in her story, gave the ultimate valuation of such a gap through Connie’s surrender to the devil Arnold Friend (Oates). Oates left readers to guess Connie’s fate in the hand of devil Arnold Friend. Joyce Carol Oates in a high and loud voice urged the community that the society cannot afford another child to repeat Connie’s fate. Parents and children together must vow to do everything in order to reduce the communication gap
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