Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Symbolism
As my name suggests, I have a number of questions regarding "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" mostly about the symbolism in the story. First of all, what exactly were the girls doing when they were supposed to be at the mall? Any reference to thoae times are vague and have a very "I'm doing something that I know is wrong" feeling. Also, what do you think the music was symbolizing in the story? Music was refered to multiple time throughout the story and seemed to be a sort of escape route to me, but maybe not. Next, what was with Arnold's name? That was definitely not random. In my opinion, when you slur the first and last names together it sounds like "an old friend." As far as his friend Ellie, why does this guy have a girl's name and is his sole purpose to make Arnold look less strange in comparison? Also, why did he promise not to enter her house as long as she didn't call the police and do you think he really would have entered the house if she did? What does this represent? I know that it sounds like I didn't understand this story at all, but I did. I just like asking questions. ; )
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5 comments:
when they were supposed to be at the mall i can only assume they were either at the diner or hanging out with boys they met that night. it is my opinion that the feeling of "i'm doing something that i know is wrong" stems from their parents not knowing exactly what they're doing. it's not that what they've done is terrible, it's just that they broke a rule. sort of the preteen rebellious phase at it's best.
i also noticed the constant references to music. my only idea about that is it creates a connection that flows through the piece. the music playing in the diner, to the music playing while connie is home alone, to the same station being played in arnold's car. i'm sure there's a deeper meaning but i'm not sure what it is.
as far as his name, arnold friend, i didn't catch that, but i think it's a neat idea now that you bring it up.
if you read some of my responses to the previous post, you'll see that i talked a bit about the idea of his actions representing sin. promising to not enter the house if she didn't call the police was just another way of buying time without telling her what to do. this promise created a loophole that insured he could enter, but it would be because of her free will. the entire situation was set up so that no matter what happened, it was ultimately her choice.
I personally saw a different meaning behind Arnold's promise. I had assumed that Arnold was Satan and the Police were symbolic of God. It was always Connie's choice to go with Arnold or call the police. I think that he never would have entered the house. The reason being that he would be easier traced, or whatever is irrelevant. I think that he lied to Connie to try to convince her that she was doomed no matter what so that she would choose not to ask the police for help. I also think he was lying about killing her family when they got home so that she would choose to go with him. As Satan , or sin if you prefer, using lies as means of manipulation is not out of the realm of possibility. Maybe i"m stretching it a bit, but it does fit the accepted theme that everything was ultimately her choice.
I never thought about the police being god. Thats a really good point. My opinion of the story is kinda simple. Arnold is the devil and uses his voice and smooth talk to tempt Connie to leave her house. But in the end i didnt know if it was real or just her falling asleep on the front porch!
At the hamburger joint, the music "made everything so good" and was "something to depend upon." When Connie's with Eddie, she was thrilled, not to be with him, but because of the background music. The music is a steady thing, something in the background that continues no matter what. She doesn't have the background music at her house, unless she's in her room by herself.
It's a neat thing about Arnold's name you mentioned. I think it's kind of an idea that the Devil (which I think he's supposed to represent) is a part of everybody's lives. He is an 'old friend.' There's the whole Christian idea of original sin, where the Devil's a part of our lives as soon as we're born.
Also- why isn't Connie more freaked out when a random car pulls into her driveway? Her first thought is wondering how good (or bad) she looked. Before she considered "oh no, some random guy's at my house and I'm home alone" she worried about how she looked like she actually was going on a date.
i think that constant question's is right but everyone has good ideas.
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