In Oates’ story a young, naive girl (Connie) is confronted by a man (Arnold Friend) who intends and succeeds to take her away from her home and rape her. The story has a surreal quality to it that many people upon reading have difficulty in understanding. Common occurring questions run along the lines of “Why didn’t she fight?” or comments such as “I would have shot him” when the fact of the matter is many people placed in a similar position become incapable of actions of any kind. According to family practitioner Robert Finn, “ A large proportion of sexual assault victims experience an involuntary paralysis during the assault [rape]”(1). He later goes on to give the numbers of these occurrences amongst childhood victims as 83% and adult victims as 75%. The lack of fight or flight from the character of

Regardless of access to information and group discussions regarding the current state of the world and the dangers that are a part of everyday life, violent things do happen. It was true in the sixty’s when Bob Dylan was popular and when Joyce Carol Oates wrote Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? It is still true today. With attention to pop culture of the time, Oates was able to bring forth this startling fact in a way that adolescents could relate to and understand. The parallels and similarities to contemporary things made the story memorable and long lasting, even if nobody listens to Bob Dylan anymore.

Though a somewhat insulting stereotype of the adolescent, Connie serves this function perfectly. According to Dr. Melisa Holmes, the Assistant Professor in the departments of Ob-Gyn and Pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina, “As adolescents mature, they feel a greater need for independence and exploration, which inherently may increase their risk for experiencing forced or coerced sexual activity”. (3) Connie being a girl of fifteen is experiencing these marked feelings. She is outgoing, flirtatious, and as a result she attracts Arnold Friend. The resulting situation is classified as “Acquaintance Rape” or a sexual assault by someone the victim has previously met and established some trust which commonly follows a social encounter with a stranger in a public place.

Is standing in the clothes that you once wore.

And it’s all over now, Baby Blue (Dylan 1)

Charles Schmid was not the only figu

Some topics in this essay:
Arnold Friend, Robert Finn, Baby Blue, South Carolina, Carol Oates, , Schmid Arnold, Carol Oates’, Bob Dylan, Schmid Regardless, bob dylan, arnold friend, charles schmid, it’s baby blue, people assume, sexual assault, baby blue, joyce carol, character connie, bob dylan arnold, dylan arnold, connie completely,