Understanding Mrs. Wrigh
In Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Connie, a fifteen-year-old female, decides to stay home one Sunday while her parents and her older sister attends a family barbecue. While Connie is listening to the radio, a gold jalopy pulls up in her yard with two people, a boy Connie has recognized once before, whose name is Arnold Friend, and his friend Ellie. Ellie listens to a transistor radio throughout the conversation between Arnold and Connie. Arnold invites Connie for a ride with him, but she shows no interest, unsure whether she wants to ride with these strangers. As there conversations continue, Connie begins to see that Arnold is not what he appears to be: his hair, face, clothes, and talks are all a cover up. As her fear grows, Arnold becomes more and more aggressive that she rides with him. Arnold slowly reveals his power over her as she finds herself tempted at the end. In Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown, “ Brown leaves his wife one evening to meet a stranger in the forest, supposedly to go with him to a witch meeting. During their conversation, the stranger convinces Brown to walk through the forest through demonstrations that people Bro
The conclusion of the two stories ended quite different. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, “ it ends at the disaster point; whereas “Young Goodman Brown,” continues beyond to show the way Brown is affected by his experience in his later life. Perhaps, we are meant to believe that Connie dies at the end of the story. If the death does not take place, in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” could have the same meaning as of “Young Goodman Brown.” However, just as Brown’s trust in the goodness of others dies, a part of Connie dies, perhaps her innocence or her ignorance of the darker side of sexual passion. Devil figures seem to be part of both of these story stories. These figures are semi-strangers, familiar, and unknown. Both have supernatural powers and a remarkable knowledge of both Brown and Connie lives. They show many characteristics related with the devil. Connie devil is more evidently sexual, taking a shape like that of her boyfriends and imagining becoming her lover. The narrator notes, “He read off the numbers 33, 19, 17 and raised his eyebrows at her to see what she thought of that, but she didn’t think much of it” (Oates 429). These numbers pain
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Goodman Brown,
Brown” Brown’s,
Goodman Brown”,
Brown Connie,
Connie Arnold,
Been” Connie,
Arnold Friend,
Ellie Ellie,
“young goodman,
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“where been”,
“young goodman brown”,
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,
Been” Hawthorne’s,
“young goodman brown,
human nature,
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hawthorne’s “young,
witch meeting,
hawthorne’s “young goodman,
goodman brown “,
devil figures,
connie goodman brown,
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Approximate Word count = 819
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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