Oates’ Dark, Ugly Truth, Research Paper Example

In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Connie is beautiful, young, a dark-haired, naïve girl who is persecuted in her house—first by her mother and then by Arnold Friend. She is a million young women. Every mother with a teenage daughter has heard “her laugh which was cynical and drawling at home—‘Ha, ha, very funny’” and has tolerated the eye-rolling responses which make Connie the girl next door (pp. 2-3). It seems that no one really wants to know what Connie is up to—not her mother, not her friend’s father, and the title is a poignant reminder that Connie’s death is preventable.

As a girl who lives with a sense of duality (child-adult, good-bad, hounded-free), she is coming to grips with cognitive dissonance, and she acts out. Oates writes that she wears form-fitting blouses that “looked one way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home” (p. 2). She wanted to draw attention to herself, and she did. This society is filled with images of half-naked women, creating an expectation, a norm; however, when this norm is exhibited and an attack takes place, it is common for the public to imply that she brought it on herself. In a televised debate about the Central Park sexual assaults of 2001, one commentator defended the men who attacked an unsuspecting bicyclist, remarking that “Boys will be boys”. Thus, public opinion plays a large part in the perpetuation of the violent, sexual male role and in the desensitization of men who are at-risk for developing these attitudes (Carrl, 2010, pp. 143-145).  Laws have just begun to acknowledge that even a wife or a prostitute has the right to say no; people are slower to change (Randall, 2010, pp. 401-402). Connie’s mother picks at her daughter because she is beautiful, and perhaps good girls should go to barbecues and dress plainly. Still, Connie was trying to enjoy a simple day at home. She was not escalating the situation. Although resistance does not increase the likelihood of receiving a personal injury, as happens to Connie, “Ultimately it is the responsibility of perpetrators to end sexual violence against women” (Orchowski et al., 2008, p. 215).

Connie is the perfect example of the difference between being a hero/heroine and a protagonist. She has a multitude of chances to change herself, but Friend is the other side of her nature and draws her in. He is careful to appear non-threatening: taking the pseudonym Friend, using the slang of her classmates, laughing casually, but he knows things about her that he shouldn’t—her address, her name, where her family is at. Curiosity and young vanity ensnare her, and she is not a woman yet, is not accustomed to trusting her instincts. He enigmatically draws an X in the air: X for kisses, X for death, X for the kiss of death. Connie will never grow old like her mother, will never fade to normalcy. Friend sees her as a child, calling her sweetheart, honey, and (finally) good girl. His terminology is two-fold, displaying the tensions subtly building up and revealing his intentions. He wants the perfect porcelain doll, and she is the one. Unknowingly, she even prepares herself for this, washing her hair as he pulls up.

June won’t be anyone’s porcelain doll. She may be their gentle mother figure or may become like the mother in the story, but the plainness of her body and face define her character. While Friend acts in opposition to Connie, June simply is opposite her—a fact which does not escape Friend’s attention. He notes that she is in a blue dress and high heels and remarks that it is sad and that she is nothing like Connie (p. 7). At this moment in time, June is trying to draw attention, and Connie is trying not to draw anymore. Neither of the girls are successful. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is filled with themes of time and place, of duality, of public hypocrisy which is fueled by gender and sex norms. They cannot be changed by ignoring the ugly truths of this story.

References

Carll, E. ( 2010). News Coverage of Victims and Perpetrators: 143-153. Retrieved June 30, 2011 from < http://commons.esc.edu/gerardi/files/2010/11/Carll-article-Violence-and-women.pdf>. Web.

Oates, J. (1966). Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Epoch, 1-10. Print.

Orchowski, L. M., Gidycz, C. A., & Raffle, H. (2008). Evaluation of a Sexual Assault Risk Reduction and Self-Defense Program: A Prospective Analysis of a Revised Protocol. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32(2), 204-218. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2008.00425.x

Randall, M. (2010). Sexual Assault Law, Credibility, and ‘Ideal Victims’: Consent, Resistance, and Victim Blaming. Canadian Journal of Women & the Law, 22(2), 397-433. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.