What Does Ellie Symbolize In Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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What does Ellie symbolize in Where Are You Going Where have you been? Arnold Friend's sidekick, Ellie is

passive and quietly disturbing character

in the story. He sits in the passenger seat of Friend's car holding the transistor radio. Connie observes that while, like Friend, Ellie is also older than he originally appeared, he is also strangely undeveloped and completely submissive.

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What is the meaning behind Ellie Oscar's name in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

What does Connie symbolize in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

Who is Ellie Oscar?

Why does Connie go with Arnold and Ellie?

Due to her insecurity and low self-esteem, Connie is just gullible enough to believe that it really is “all over for [her] here.” She is willing to go with Arnold Friend not because she actually wants to, but

because she thinks he is right

; Connie has nothing keeping her, not her friends, her family, or any of the …

How old is Connie's sister June?

June. Connie's older . June is nearly the opposite of Connie.

Twenty-four years old

, overweight, and still living at home, she is a placid, dutiful daughter.

What is peculiar about the name Arnold Friend Is it symbolic for something?

Arnold Friend, the antagonist in Joyce Carol Oates's story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”

represents the devil who arrives to bring Connie to the underworld

. For example, his unusual appearance implies that he is an inhuman being, unlike what he wants to lead on.

What does the music symbolize in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

From the outset of the story, music symbolizes

Connie's inner life, specifically the pleasure she takes in romantic relationships and romantic ideals themselves

. Whenever she goes to the plaza with her friends, music is always playing in the background.

Is Arnold Friend the antagonist?


The story's antagonist

, Arnold Friend is a deeply sinister character—a man who pretends to be a teenage boy in his effort to kidnap, rape, and murder Connie.

What does Connie's house symbolize?

What does Arnold Friend's car symbolize?

As Friend's own name is written on the car, it is clear that it functions as

a direct extension of Friend himself and his intentions

. The car is also another aspect of Friend's disguise: like his clothes and the music he claims to love, it is intended to make him seem normal and unthreatening to Connie.

How does Arnold Friend manipulate Connie?

As the story comes to a close, Friend successfully manipulates Connie:

he has worn down her agency and free will so completely that she is unable to act in her own best interests

.

How old is Connie in where are you going?

The protagonist of the story, Connie is a pretty

fifteen-year-old

girl who loves spending time with her friends and flirting with boys. Connie takes great pleasure in her appearance, so much so that her mother often scolds her for being vain.

Who was Arnold Friend?

Arnold Friend is the main antagonist of the short story, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?, by Joyce Carol Oates and its 1985 film adaption, Smooth Talk. He was portrayed by

Treat Williams

– who also portrayed Xander Drax in The Phantom and Jimmy Conway O'Donnell in Once Upon a Time in America – in the film.

What happens to Connie at the end of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

Many critics assume that Connie is indeed to die, but only after she rides away with Arnold and Ellie who will rape and murder her. However, much about the story suggests that

Connie's death is a process that begins prior to Arnold's arrival at the house.

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been numbers 33 19 17?

Why is Connie a dynamic character?

What does June represent in where are you going?

Where do Connie and her friends go when they leave the shopping plaza?

One midsummer night, Connie and her best girlfriend are dropped off at the local shopping plaza as usual by her best friend's father. Here they pull the oldest trick in the book. Instead of hanging out at the shopping plaza, they run across the highway to

a drive-in restaurant

where the older kids hang out.

What is the role of music in Connie's life what could it symbolize for her?

How is Arnold Friend's name symbolic and ironic?

The antagonist in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is Arnold Friend, a man who lures protagonist Connie out of her family's house and forces her to leave with him for an ambiguously foreshadowed but probable rape. His name is ironic

because he is certainly not a friend, but a predator

.

Why is Arnold Friend familiar?

Is Arnold Friend a vampire?

Observed through the supernatural lens,

Arnold Friend can be described as a malevolent force that displays many characteristics of a vampire

.

What does Arnold's car represent in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

Not only is the car itself rather off-putting, but Arnold presents it as the vehicle that will transport Connie to her new life. Once Arnold's true, violent nature comes through, the car becomes a symbol of

all that is dark and ominous about his character

.

How does music affect Connie?

Music totally affects the way Connie thinks and acts.

She uses music as a form of escape and basis life as she believes it should be from the songs she hears on the radio

. Escape breeds daydreams, and daydreams blur the line between reality and fantasy.

What is symbolism in literature explain with examples?

What is an old fiend?

:

a person who has been one's friend for a long time

An old friend came to visit.

What did Arnold Friend look like?

Where is Connie's family on Sunday?

Where are you going symbolism?

“[The] story is clearly

an allegory of the fatal attractions of death (or the devil)

,” Oates explains. “An innocent young girl is seduced by way of her own vanity; she mistakes death for erotic romance of a particularly American/trashy sort” (source).

Who is the antagonist in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

What is the most important motif in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

What do the numbers 33 19 17 mean?

The Code On the Car

The code, 33, 19, 17 has at least two meanings. First,

the reader can discover the title of the story

. By counting backwards in the Old Testament of the Bible, 33 books, you will arrive at the book of Judges. Go to chapter 19, verse 17.

What kind of car is a Connie?

Adventures with “Connie” (aka the 2017

Lincoln Continental

) — Demetria L.

What are the symbols in a good man is hard to find?

  • Violence and Grace.
  • Goodness.
  • Punishment and Forgiveness.
  • Familial Conflict and Familial Love.
  • Moral Decay.
Maria LaPaige
Author
Maria LaPaige
Maria is a parenting expert and mother of three. She has written several books on parenting and child development, and has been featured in various parenting magazines. Maria's practical approach to family life has helped many parents navigate the ups and downs of raising children.