Between Connie and Arnold Friend in the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” the main character would have to be Connie. A case could be made for Arnold friend as well, but the way I see it Connie is the main character. This is a story about coming of age and in a sense “growing up”. This is a story about how Connie starts off as a carefree young girl who argues with her mother quite a bit. By the end of the story you get the sense that she is a changed person and may have “grown up”

Connie’s house may be a metaphor for her comfort zone or the place where she would like to stay. Whenever she leaves the house it could be her leaving her comfort zone. Leaving the house could also represent going from adolescence to adulthood. Her uneasiness to do it could represent anxiety of going from adolescence to adulthood. She doesn’t want to leave the house because leaving would leave to an uncomfortable situation. The house could mean many different things and they could all probably be right. The house could ultimately represent her old adolescent lifestyle that she needs to leave behind.

There are many theories to what the numbers on Arnold Friend’s car means. Many people said that they are a biblical reference to Judges chapter 19 verse 17 which reads “And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?”. Other theories I read about were that Christ was thirty-three when he was crucified and the missing number between seventeen and nineteen is eighteen. R is the eighteenth letter in the alphabet and taking the R’s out of Arnold Friend’s name gives you An Old Fiend. I think that Oates was referring to the biblical verse which basically says the title of the story.

This story has many important images including Arnold Friend. When describing him he seems like a shady character that may be sly or sneaky. As previously stated the house could be an image of her comfort zone. This forms the story to be a coming of age story where Connie has to decide what she is going to do .

Seeing the similarities between the pieces “Where are you Going, Where have you been”, the movie Smooth Talk and the three reports. It’s easy to see Charles Howard Schmid from the reports being the same guy from the short story and film. All the pieces fit together so much so that it may seem they are all telling the same story. As I said before it seems as if Charles Schmid and Arnold Friend could very well be the same man. The short story seems like a coming of age type of story for Connie. She starts off as a goofy young girl but later seems like she maybe will change how she acts in the end realizing she may attract the wrong kind of attention.

The parallels between the Bob Dylan song and the story may be about moving on or changing or something to that affect. Bob Dylan’s song reflects that someone is done with something and moving on to something else. The author of “Where are you Going, Where have you been” might have been trying to say that there comes a time when you have to leave something you used to do in the past and move on to doing something else. In his song Bob Dylan wrote “Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you
forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you”. That seems to clearly be saying to move forward with your life and forgot the old things you used to do.

The similarities between the three reports and the short story are very apparent as well. Arnold Friend seemed liked the type of person that didn’t want to grow up was very conscious of his appearance. He may not have been quite old as Arnold Friend was assumed to be but he was still into younger women. It might not have been said that he would but Arnold Friend seems like he would maybe kill to get what he wants.

Obviously being based on the story the movie is very similar. One thing I noticed in the movie that may point to being more about coming of age is the ending. She comes back in the end a different person. Everything else that happened in the movie was pretty much the same as in the story. Minus the ending from the movie the story leads to believe it would end like the articles did. That leads me to believe that most or parts of these stories could be combined to tell the same story.

The three pieces A&P, Rites of Passage and The Only Girl at the Boy’s Party, have some similarities in their “made things” or their meaning. Both of Sharon Olds’ works have some kind of connection with parent and child. The parent is observing the child in what he or she is doing and comments on it. All three works have their idea of a hero. Their ideas of heroism are something that the writer wanted the reader to get. Sharon Olds also wants people to see different things about children. Whether it’s their likeness to a grown man or how they develop through the process of life. The writer of A&P shows us how the mind of an adolescent works and what goes through their mind. Both authors try to show the reader how different people think.

John Updike and Sharon Olds definition of heroism appear to be different. Sharon Olds definition appears to be just someone who solves the conflict while Updike sees a hero who does something for the benefit of someone else whether they are looking for gratitude or not. Sharon Olds seems to have fewer qualifications for someone to become a hero then Updike even though neither one seems to have a long list of qualifications. Seeing the difference in perception of a hero from these two it is easy to see how many different people can be viewed as heroes by various people.

When John Updike wrote A&P the thoughts that went through his head were much like those that go through many people’s heads. He wanted think like an adolescent would and put those thoughts into Sammy. All the descriptive language John Updike used may have seemed like a lot, but I’m sure most people can attest to having their minds race around just as Sammy’s did. When you rethink the situation maybe Sammy initially may have made his decision for the wrong reason but he did not regret it even after he knew the girls had not witnessed it. If he was angry about quitting his job and wanted it back then he would have been wrong the whole time instead of the one moment when he looked for gratitude. Sammy might not be your traditional hero but he may be considered so.

When it comes to being a hero some people have different opinions on what makes one. Some people look to comic book characters or firefighters for heroes, while other people think of their parents or other close relatives. A hero defined by dictionary.com is “a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.” Some people may not see a hero as someone fitting this definition. Some may view a hero who has not performed a courageous act but someone that greatly influenced them or someone has accomplished many things. I look at a hero being someone that could fit either one of those descriptions. Everyone has someone that they may consider a hero whether someone agrees or not.

Someone I consider a hero because of his accomplishments is Barack Obama. He may not have done anything overly courageous but he did achieve something that many people did not think would possible as soon as it was. My parents tell me that he did something that they didn’t think would happen in their lifetime. Even though my parents always told me that I could do whatever I want, it’s just nice to see him as the leader of the country. He has something that I can look up to and strive to make myself successful as well. Like I said my criteria for making Barack Obama a hero is not for some courageous act but for his accomplishments.

In the case of Sammy and whether or not his is a hero is up to the opinion of the reader. I personally don’t see him as much of a leader. He may have performed a heroic act but I don’t think that is what classifies people as heroes. People can do heroic things for all the wrong reasons. Sammy quitting his job because of the unfair treatment of the girls on its own would have probably made him some sort of hero. Because he was looking for approval and praise from the girls as his main goal, his heroism was lessened. I also don’t believe he would have performed the act if he were not attracted to “Queenie”. His attraction to her made all the difference in whether or not he would quit or not. He may have felt the treatment of the girls was unfair but I doubt he would have quit his job. Quitting his job was just to impress the pretty girl and if she wasn’t pretty then there would have been point in doing it. The fact that I believe that does not make him a hero in my eyes. Some may disagree but that is the way I see it.

Pg. 6

1. 1.The North Wind is forceful while the Sun is more persuasive.

2. 2.The high winds of the North Wind made the man just cling harder to his covering.

3. 3.The Sun gradually got the man to remove his covering instead of all in one attempt which the North Wind tried.

4. 4.He represents a person listening to the argument of two sides.

5. 5.Convincing somebody to do something is always better than forcing them to do so.

Pg. 8

1. 1.The First Sentence. One

2. 2.He wants to use a story to help him prove a point. Using the story will better help the officials realize why he makes his decision. It further stresses its point.

3. 3.That he is sort of a free spirit.

Pg. 19

1. 1.How he notices everything in the grocery store. Tells exactly where he is and what is happening.

2. 2.Very close attention to detail. Wanting attention may have lessened the level of heroism. This character notices details more.

3. 3.Almost the whole story. So you can see exactly what the main character sees.

4. 4. His feelings really don’t change toward Queenie.

5. 5.When the manager comes into the story. When the manager starts to question the girls. After the character says he wants to quit.

6. 6.To impress the girl.

7. 7.The way he feels about Queenie. How he is upset about the mangers questions.

8. 8.Sammy has given this job up. He knows that quitting the job may make his life a lot harder.

9. 9.That the society is not very difficult to live in.