Homework 9/21

Joyce Oates' story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is a tale of a young girl who is threatened by a man who has a particular interest in young women. This man, A. Friend, first sees the young girl, Connie, at a fast food restaurant. Connie is hanging out with another boy at this time, but that does not stop A. Friend from telling her he is going to have her. Within the next couple days after seeing Connie at the fast food joint, A. Friend shows up at Connie's house. No one else is home except for Connie, and Friend knows. He has been planning on it actually. Friend knew exactly where Connie's family was and what they were doing. Friend had been stalking her and a long with knowing about her family he also knew lots of information about her. Friend starts trying to persuade her to get into his car and she keeps refusing. He hints that her family and house may be harmed if she does not get into the car. He also mentions that she reminds him of one of her neighbors, another female who is now dead. This is perhaps foreshadowing Connie's likely demise. Connie, deciding that she did not want any one in her family to get hurt and realizing she was probably out of options, decided to get into the car with Friend and they drive off. This is where Oates' story ends. In the movie based on the story, the story keeps going. Connie arrives back home alive and apologizes to her family for not being the best daughter. Personally, I like the book better because it leaves the reader to decide what happens to Connie. After reading the articles of which "Where are You Going. Where Have You Been?" are based, it would seem to indicate to me that Connie would not be coming back from her little trip with A. Friend. The newspaper articles are about a handsome young man who kills at least three girls and says he also killed a young boy. This young man has no problem with the ladies and seems to just kill for the "thrill of killing." The articles, the story and the movie all have the same central idea and that is that young women should always be weary of their surroundings and what is going on in situations, especially those dealing with the opposite sex. When someone notices something out of the ordinary, and especially if something is indicating that there may be danger, they need to alert someone. It is amazing, though, how many different ways there are to tell the same basic story. There was the true story printed in the newspaper about a murderer of women. An author saw this and turned it into a short story, but changed the characters, setting and plot. Some one then decided to make a movie about the short story. The characters for the most part were the same except some were added. The setting is the same, but the overall story is longer. Each character is explored more especially Connie. Even with all the differences, the central theme throughout stayed the same. Females need to not try to grow up too fast and get themselves caught up with the wrong boys.