Short Story Blog - "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

PLOT

Joyce Carol Oates effectively presents the plot of "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" to the reader with help of foreshadowing techniques and attention to detail. Early on in the story, I knew that the main character Connie would get into some kind of trouble because of the detailed description of which Oates gave. She made sure to inform the reader to foreshadow an ominous danger of some sort. "Sometimes they did go shopping or to a movie, but sometimes they went across the highway, ducking fast across the busy road, to a drive-in restaurant where older kids hung out..." (251). "She spent three hours with [Eddie], at the restaurant where they ate... and then down an alley..." (252). We learn here that Connie is not honest about what she does in her free time and she has a reputation for spending lots of time with strange boys. This foreshadowed a potentially dangerous encounter later in the story, which also kept me consumed in the plot. The most obvious detail in the plot that foreshadowed at the later plot was the description of Connie's first encounter with Arnold Friend at the diner. "He stared at her and then his lips widened into a grin... He wagged a finger and said, 'Gonna get you baby,'" (251). Arnold's mannerisms and statements are just simply creepy. I knew this character would not go away for long.

POINT OF VIEW

This story is told in third person point of view. Connie is the main character in which the narrator knows everything about. This was the best point of view to use for this story. If first person had been used, many details about Connie would have been left out, as she the character would find them unnecessary to reveal. As a result, many of the foreshadowing events would not be indicative of anything at all because the reader would be lacking the knowledge of the kind of danger Connie puts herself in. Because of the unknown narrator, the reader knows that "Everything about her had two sides to it," (250), which indicates far more about the upcoming plot than would a first person story.

CHARACTERIZATION

Connie is the protagonist of the story. Oates gives pages of descriptive information about her. "She was fifteen and she had a nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors... to make sure her [face] was alright," (249). She shows much rebellion and anger towards her family as a result of her vanity, which ultimately causes her to put herself in harms way. Her actions of being where she is not supposed to be show her naivety and her lack of awareness for how the world actually is around her. She is solely aware of her beauty, her love of music, and her love of fun. She never weighs the consequences of her actions, but rather moves on with her life in the same careless pattern. She finally gets her wake up call when Arnold Friend shows up at her door, but by that time it may have been too late.

Connie's mother was a stock character in this story. As the mother she "noticed everything and knew everything," (249), which drove her daughter mad. Most mothers are presented in this way when a story is told from more of the child's point of view. However despite her habits and ideas of Connie, she remains the one true stable character in her daughter's life. "Their father was away at work most of the time and when he came home... he didn't bother talking much to them," (250). Without a father or a sister that she could get along with, Connie only had her mother and obviously regarded her as a stable parental figure, as in the last scene, it is her mother that Connie shouts out to for help. "She began to scream into the phone, into the roaring. She cried out, she cried for her mother," (265).

SETTING

This story does not come outright and state the exact location or time period in which Connie lives. The only locations we see are Connie's home, the shopping plaza in town, and the drive-in diner. These places indicate a possible small town setting. It would have to be small in order for Arnold to have found out so much about Connie in such a short period of time after seeing her that first night at the diner. "'But I know what it is. I know your name and all about you, lots of things,' Arnold said. 'I took special interest in you, such a pretty girl, and found out all about you-like I know your parents and sister are gone somewheres and I know where and hoe long they're going to be gone...'" (257). The time period is also not given exactly, but it can be inferred based on at least one essential detail. "He lifted his friend's arm and showed her the little transistor radio the boy was holding," (255). According to PBS (http://www.pbs.org/transistor/background1/events/tradio.html), the first transistor radio was made in 1954. This leads me to believe that it is likely that this story took place in the 50's or early 60's when these radios were most popular. The small town atmosphere and the time period ultimately play a role in Connie's lack of awareness about the world. She was sheltered in her small town and a situation like her's with Arnold Friend was not a common event that was discussed during that time. Things were usually kept "hush-hush" so to speak, which made Connie far more unaware of danger than she would have been living in today's world.

THEME

I believe the theme of this story has a lot to do with a search for independence. Connie choosing to rebel enforces her desire to be free and do what she wants and go wherever she wants. She meets up where "the older kids hung out," (251), and wants to be accepted as an adult, or rather older than she is. What is ultimately learned in the end is that Connie was not near ready for complete independence at all. When put to the test, Connie was "so sick with fear that she could do nothing but listen to it - the telephone was clammy and very heavy and her fingers groped down to the dial but were too weak to touch it. She began to scream into the phone, she cried for her mother" (265). Of course it was understandable why Connie would be so frightened, but because she was still a child lacking a readiness for independence, her fear paralyzed her thoughts making her indecisive. She called for help from her mother, as a young child would. Once she received no help, she did nothing for herself. She merely let herself fall into Arnold's trap. "She put her hand against the screen. She watched herself push the door slowly open as if she was back safe somewhere in the other doorway, watching this body and this head of long hair moving out into the sunlight where Arnold Friend waited.," (266).

Sympathy for Miss Brill

"Miss Brill" was a very sad short story in my opinion. I really much sympathy for Brill's character throughout the entire story. Her only excitement in life was each Sunday when she got to wear her fur and purchasing her "Sunday treat" of honeycake. "If there was an almond it was like carrying home a tiny present..." (186). I find it very sad that these were the only things in her day that kept her going, kept her happy with life. At the end when she is made fun of, she goes home and cries while putting her fur away. This is when my heart reached out to her character the most. She had no one and nothing but her fur and Sunday routine. And now even that has been put to rest. I believe most of my sympathy came from personally knowing older women who, like Miss Brill, do not really have anyone or anything of significance to look forward to. If any of the individuals I know that are similar to Miss Brill overheard someone making fun of them, they would be crushed and would have a hard time ever fully recovering from what was said.

Frame Story in "Once Upon a Time"

"Once Upon a Time" begins with a story about the author herself and her unwillingness to write stories for children. This eventually leads her into telling another story about a family afraid of intruders. I was very confused at first what the point of the first story was and how both stories were tied in with one another. However, I believe the second story serves to prove Gordimer's stance on children's books. She refuses to write them because of the possible implications they could have on a child's actions. The boy in the second story "pretended to be the Prince who braves the terrible thicket of thorns to enter the palace and kiss the Sleeping Beauty back to life," (236), which caused him to get tangled in the wire fence. If it were not for this children's story, the boy would not have climbed the fence and become trapped in it. It's possible Gordimer refuses to write a children's book so as to not cause kids to do something dangerous.

Rhetorical Questions in "A Worn Path"

Phoenix travels far from her home to get to town through many woods and fields. As she travels she frequently talks to herself and to the noises or sights she sees on her journey. For example, she spots a buzzard in the field and asks, "Who you watching?" (225). Talking to herself seems to comfort her as she makes such a long journey alone. It also seems to help her feel less lonely and more powerful against these creatures she comes into contact with. Her thoughts are always focused on just getting through to the next step on her path while trying to prevent anything from inhibiting that. I felt a lot of sympathy for Phoenix. Despite her age, she continues to make trip after trip to town to help her grandson without any help from others.

Internal Conflict in "Eveline"

This short story all has to do with an internal conflict the main character is facing. The story begins with Eveline sitting at the window thinking and weighing her options. She seems somewhat torn between her past and future, as she recalls memories from her past life and then begins to think of Frank. "She had consented to go away, to leave her home. Was that wise? She tried to weigh each side of the question," (219). I feel that Eveline made the right decision to stay at home, and I believe that deep down, she knew all along what was best for her. Frank is only mentioned in a good solid paragraph while the rest of her past consumes the rest. Her thoughts always led back to past memories or her present life, indicating her inability to move on with her life with Frank. She belonged at home.

"Bartleby the Scrivener"

I found this story very confusing. Bartleby began as a hard working scrivener and accomplished many tasks. After some time though, he begins to refuse everything that anyone tells him to do, including eating. "...nothing stirred. I paused; then went close up to him; stooped over, and saw that his dim eyes were open; otherwise he seemed profoundly sleeping," (674). Why did he do this to himself? What made him decide not to live any longer? Bartleby must have gone through some kind of change to resort to death. I cannot seem to figure out why though. I also assumed that the other scriveners must have some symbolic meaning behind their work ethics, but I never seemed to be able to justify that while reading the story.

Foil Characters in "Everyday Use"

While reading "Everyday Use" the first thing I noticed was the difference between the sisters Dee and Maggie. "Dee wanted nice things...She was determined to stare down any disaser in her efforts... At sixteen she had a style of her own: and knew what style was," (175). Maggie on the other hand walked with "chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle, ever since that fire burned the other house to the ground," (175). "Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes: she will stand... homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs, eying her sister with a mixture of envy and awe," (173). Dee was confident and very different from the rest of her family. Maggie was obviously more insecure and felt inferior to Dee. Had it not been for the fire and the shame it caused Maggie, it seems that they would not be as great of foils.

Dynamic Character in "Everyday Use"

The mother in "Everyday Use" was a very hard worker and did much for Dee to give her an education and hopefully help her find what she wanted. She was consistently ungrateful and displeased with her life despite her mother's hard work. Resulting from her disrespect, she pushes her mother around. The mom is the dynamic character when she finally stands up to Dee for Maggie and her own beliefs. When Dee tries to take the quilts, she tells her that she promised Maggie she could have them one day, and she did not back down. "God knows I've been saving 'em for long enough with nobody using 'em. I hope she will!" (182). This shift shows the mother finally being fed up with Dee. By standing up for Maggie, she let her daughter know that she cared. "I did something I had never done before: hugged Maggie to me... Maggie smiled... a real smile, not scared," (181).

Situational Irony in "Hunters in the Snow"

"Hunters in the Snow" came to a very unexpected end. Kenny was shot by Tub and they laid him in the truck bed to take him to the hospital. Naturally, the reader expects Kenny to be taken directly to the hospital and treated. However, we learn in the last sentence that "they had taken a different turn a long way back," (201). This was definitely not what I expected to happen. I am very curious why they chose not to take him to the hospital. These men seem to have odd relationships with one another throughout the story. None of them really seem to me like that great of friends. I do not understand what made Tub and Frank come together over Kenny being shot.

Connotation in "Interpreter of Maladies"

In "Interpreter of Maladies," interpreter takes on another connotation Mrs. Das believes that as an interpreter, Mr. Kapasi literally interprets anything, such as people's thoughts, actions, feelings, or emotions.

"'I told you because of your talents...'

'I don't understand...'

'Mr. Kapasi, don't you have anything to say? I thought that was your job...'" (163).

Mrs. Das greatly misunderstood his occupation as he actually interpreted language for a doctor and for tours in English. He did not interpret personal maladies. Kapasi interpreted language so as to prevent social maladies, or undesirable conditions created as a result of individuals not being able to understand one another.

Suspense in "A Rose for Emily"

While reading "A Rose for Emily," I remained suspenseful of what was going on with Miss Emily Grierson throughout the whole story. Suspense began in the first paragraph when the narrator states why people went to the funeral: "...the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house which no one...had seen in at least ten years," (281). This indicated Emily's lack of friends and family first of all, since no one in the neighborhood actually went to her funeral to mourn her loss. This made me wonder why she did not have any relationships with anyone since she had lived there so long. I also wanted to know why she never came out of her house. Suspense in a literary work always adds more excitement to the story. The reader anticipates certain happenings and continuously wonders what will happen next. This keeps the reader's interest and makes for a better work.

First Person Point of View in "How I Met My Husband"

"How I Met My Husband" is narrated in first person point of view by the character Edie. Through Edie's narration of the story, situational irony is created, discussed in my previous blog entry. If this story was told in third person, we would soon realize Chris' motives in life as a "player." We also would be aware of the mail carrier's thoughts as he got to know Edie. This would cause the reader to make inferences and realize that Chris would not ever write to Edie. "I'm going to write you a letter. I'll tell you where I am and maybe you can come see me..." (142). As Chris stated this, we would have been aware of his actual thoughts and know that he had no interest in a relationship with Edie.

The reader would also assume that Edie and the mailman would develop a relationship over time. I believe Edie would also be viewed far greater as a young naive girl had we known Chris's history. We would see her falling for the wrong guy instead of finding her husband, which would greatly change a reader's perception of Edie.

Situational Irony in "How I Met My Husband"

Situational irony occurs in the last paragraph of "How I Met My Husband." Edie spends the majority of the story talking about Chris the pilot, and the reader assumes that she will be with him in the end. However, this was not the case. While waiting for a letter from Chris each day, Edie waits for the mail carrier and he believes she likes him. "He said he missed me...I went out with him for two years and he asked me to marry him..." (146). I was surprised at this ending, as the whole story was built on Edie's encounter with Chris. I feel that situational irony at the end of stories always adds something to the story as a whole. It gives it a more meaningful message that one should expect the unexpected.