Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Group
Question:
duetomaro
Student
College - Sophomore
What role did society play in the behavior of Connie in Where Are You Going, Where Have you Been?
Please provide examples
Answers:
-
sagetrieb Teacher
DoctoratePosted by sagetrieb on Sunday November 25, 2007 at 6:00 PMThe author holds society indirectly responsible for Connie's lack of solid values, which causes her to be seduced by music and then by Arnold Friend. The narrator uses figurative language to suggest music is a religion for Connie. Reflecting the declining values in society, her parents do not give her guidance. Her father pays little attention to her and her mother compares her with her sister. Connie hates her mother, in fact, and all Connie can think about is boys. Oates dedicates the story to Bob Dylan because his song, "Blue Eyed Girl," captures the hollowness of society--although Dylan means it differently than Oates. She also names it after Dylan because when she wrote the story he was transforming youth culture into a rebellious group, and this worried Oates. Connie's seduction and demise--her rape, in fact--at the end of the story signifies the failure of society in taking care of its young.
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