Monday, October 1, 2012
Coming of Age "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"
In the story short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You been?" Oates shows the unexpected quickness of coming to age through Connie's odd experience with Arnold who I believe to be a metaphoric symbol of the harsh realities of adult hood. Connie Continuously pushes towards her independence from her family in a desire to be isolated as soon as possible. Although she seems to be content with being alone and avoiding confrontations with her family she does not realize the obstacles and responsibilities of being truly independent. Oates creates a false hood of safety that Connie feels when being alone by making Connie view everything a perfect when she is isolated. This perfection is seen through her love of music as well as descriptions of the environment around her. All these relations to perfect and joyful moods come right after Connie wakes up and feels like she is in a new place. This new place is symbolic of her new found independence. Examples of the perfection she associates with her independence include how the " sky was perfectly blue and still". It also describes her as being "bathed in a glow of slow pulsed joy". While these seemingly descriptions Connie's new life of paradise don't only show how happy he is but they also fresh adore her imminent downfall. For example j noticed the the sky is perfectly still which could be representing the calm before a storm that is often used in literature the slow pulsed joy also created an image of a slow heartbeat, one that would be played in a scary movie right before something terrible and dreadful happens. These two sided ironic descriptions that I discovered also did not end up being coincidence for right after these to elements of foreshadow occurred the psychopath and symbol of harsh reality Arnold Friend is introduced to Connie. At this moment Connie is faced with the true reality of becoming independent. Arnold who is introduced as a teenage boy is suddenly changed into an old man symbolizing the uncontrollable speed at which one grows up. We see that Connie is scared of Arnold which shows that she is actually scared of becoming an adult. Here happiness due to independence was very short lives because now she is forced to handle the responsibilities of adulthood. As Arnold Friend gets closer and closer to the door Connie's fear and panic set in showing that's he is not mentally or physically ready to become an adult like she thought she was. She "cried out, she cried for her mother" this is an action if a mere child that Connie is reverting back to. The significance of her crying for her mother is that she wishes for the love, care, and protection that she so often took for granted and wanted to get rid of. Although Connie is now fully aware that she is not ready to be in the adult world it is to late for her. She has already made her choice of independence and like Arnold says no one can help her now. She has no choice but to join Arnold into the vast unknown world that has taken her completely by surprise.
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These are all very good points brett! However, I also noticed Connie's coming of age was shown through her interaction with the threshold of the screen door. Connie and her own decisions were now the sole drive in her transition from girlhood to womanhood. When Arnold Friend first arrives, Connie “couldn’t decide if she liked him or if he was just a jerk, and so she dawdled in the doorway and wouldn’t come down or go back inside” (Oates 472). The use of the word “dawdled” (Oates 472) gives the idea that Connie is not swayed one way more than the other but trapped in between the two states. She will not come out or go back inside. She is hesitant to go out to Arnold but does not want to go back inside either. Something is not allowing her to fully embrace he womanhood yet. This could be that she recognizes that in the gaining the status of a woman, she will lose the innocence that accompanies girlhood. While this loss of innocence is a part of becoming a woman, the permanency of this loss frightens Connie.
ReplyDeleteHowever the strength of the barrier between girlhood and womanhood continues to weaken and tempt Connie into embracing womanhood fully. The author touches on the sexual aspect of Connie’s womanhood as Arnold speaks to her through the screen door. “ ‘I like them [women] the way you are honey,’ he said, smiling sleepily at her. They stared at each other for a while through the screen door” (Oates 475). Here, Oates specifies for the first time that this threshold is specifically a screen door. The screen aspect of the door introduces the idea that the barrier between girlhood and womanhood is weakening as the story continues; it is shifting in to more of a portal or gateway to womanhood.