Where Are You Going Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates (Essay Sample)

Story Summaries
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Story Summaries
Where Are You Going Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates (1968)
The author‘s choice of period setting is the mid-1960s. The main character of the story is 15 year old Connie, whose day to day activities are chronicled in the text. Connie's preoccupation with her appearance is somewhat a typical experience during teenage years. However, her mother is constantly speaking against her vanity, always staring at her reflection every time she gets, and endears her to be more responsible and productive like her sister. Much like contemporary society, Connie dislikes her mother and expresses the desire for freedom to meet boys and spend time without supervision. During her days out with her best friend, Connie often snuck to a nearby diner to meet boys. It was during one of these meetings that she spotted the story's antagonist, Arnold Friend, in his signature gold convertible. Arnold promised to get Connie, a sinister comment that instills fear and dread in the teenager.
Not long after, Connie was left home alone while her parents and elder sister attended a neighbor's barbecue. The preying Arnold showed up at her house demanding that she take a ride with him. After a confusing conversation in which he expressed extensive knowledge about Connie, her family, and friends; Arnold promised to harm her family if Connie did not comply. Realizing the danger she was in, Connie retreated into the house and tried to call the police. Consequently, Arnold came into the house and repeatedly stabbed her. Eerily, Connie seems to walk out in obedience to the commands of her attacker. However, she has the feeling of being apart from her body, watching herself, as she walks out. There is no acknowledgment of what happened next as the story ends in suspense.
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (1990)
The things they carried text is structured as a war memoir cataloging the protagonist's, Tim O' Brien, experiences in the period during the Vietnam War. The story is about the Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and his men regarding the emotional baggage they carried throughout the way. The author takes up a unique writing style by segmenting the story using subtitles that make it appear as a string of connected short stories. The story plot begins with the platoon's discovery of a cave they decided to investigate. While one of the men went into the cave, the others waited, the captain thinking of his love Martha; while the rest were distracted by other thoughts and emotions. Consequently, Ted, one of the men was shot in the head. The commander carried immense guilt for having been distracted.
Given that the story is not structured in a linear form, some chapters are staged in the years after the war; more like memories of the narrator. The various segments discuss various topics that dig deeper into the lives of the characters. For instance, the chapter titled love discusses the history between Martha and the commander; "on the rainy river" sheds light on the circumstances that led to O'Brien's participation in the war. In "the dentist," the author highlights the humorous experiences of Lemon who demonstrated intense fear when he faints just before going in for a dental check-up. O'Brien touches on more sensitive matters in the chapters "the man I killed" and "Ambush" as he highlights his guilt of having taken the lives of others regardless of the justification that comes with war. Conclusively, "the lives of the dead" seeks to show that war is not black and white. It is not all violence and blood, but rather it contributes to character development, humor, and lasting friendships. Therefore, while the things they carried talks about physical items, it capitalizes on the emotional baggage of the soldiers.
Everyday Use by Alice Walker (1973)
This is a four-character story including Mama, Maggie, Dee, and Hakim. The story begins with Mama sitting in her back yard waiting for her daughter Dee who is coming in for a visit. A reunion with her daughter seems important to her as she daydreams, imagining how it would turn out if they were on a television show. Maggie, shy and badly scarred from a house fire that occurred years before, startles her mother from her thoughts just in time to see a car pull up at the house. Dee shows up with her boyfriend, Hakim; a fact that bothers her mother more than how Dee was dressed.
The issue of race and poverty arises when Mama acknowledges that contribution from the town funded Dee’s schooling. Dee also claims to have changed her name to an African one in protest to holding a name of white origin. Also, Dee seems to look down on Maggie and her mother because they were uneducated. Dee makes this apparent by applauding Maggie’s ability to remember exactly who in their family tree made the various historical items that their mother still owned. The disdain was so much so that Mama was convinced that Dee hated her sister. Maggie’s timid nature saw her want to flee from her sister on several occasions. After dinner, Dee claims a couple of quilts with historical significance for the family. They were made from clothes worn by family members dating back to the civil war. Despite her mother’s emphasis that she had promised the quilts to Maggie, Dee insisted that her sister was not intelligent enough to preserve them. Maggie, to maintain order, gave up the quilts to her sister but Mama grabbed them from Dee and gave them to Maggie. It seems the quilts were meant for everyday use as Maggie intended; not to be kept as trophies as Dee intended. Dee and her boyfriend Hakim left. Maggie and her mother sat peacefully contemplating on the events of the day.
Everything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor (1965)
The story runs along the conversation between two characters, Julian and his mother. They are both white and struggle with their differing perceptions about the ongoing racial integration. Apparently, Julian has to accompany his mother to the gym because she is reserved about sharing the bus with African-Americans. His mother continues to reminisce about a farm her father owned with over two hundred slaves. Julian is even more embarrassed because his mother is so stuck in the norms of racial segregation. Once on the bus, his mother couldn't hide her relief that there were only white people on board. Julian daydreamed about situations that could teach his mother the lesson of a lifetime; that African-Americans were equal to white folk. He even tried to strike a conversation with a black man who later boarded the bus to embarrass his mother but failed miserably due to lack of a subject for discussion. Other fantasies included wishing he could find a black girl to introduce to his mother with ...