Joyce Carol Oates's evocation of Bob Dylan is intentional, adding richness to the setting of the story, particularly the time period in which she takes place. When Oates wrote in the 1960s: “Where are you going, where have you been? ", there was a social revolution. American women reclaimed their rights and independence from men and reclaimed their sexuality in ways they had never done before. Adolescence and the challenges and anxieties endured by many adolescent girls as they managed to lose their sexual sincerity and subsequently become adult women was a commonly discussed topic. Feeling devalued in their families and in their intimate relationships, women questioned the place that sex and gender attempted to play in their lives. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original EssayOne element presented in this story was fantasy versus reality. While Connie strives to portray the image of a seasoned mature woman to men, her interaction with Arnold demonstrates that this is just a production. Through her clothing, hairstyle, and overall attitude, she has acquired an attractive adult attitude and attracts the attention she desires from men. However, Connie cheats her ability to control boys' attention with her willingness to let them pursue her sexually. Romance and longings for love are evident in the music she listens to, and the pop culture depictions around her are very different from adult sexuality in real life. Although Connie tries to master sexuality, including when she accompanies Eddie in the alley, she is afraid of becoming an adult. Arnold unwittingly takes her into adulthood, but this heinous act symbolizes a change in Connie herself: from childish fairy tales to a grown-up woman's reality. Arnold himself, who never really falls into one classification or another, has blurred the moral lines. His body image makes him appear both human and less than human, and Oates never clarifies whether he is fantasy or reality. He may simply be a strange man, he may be the devil, or he may be a nightmare that Connie drags around in the sun for a long time. In either case, whether such a perception is fantasy or reality, whether Arnold is a human or an inner demon, the negative impact of Arnold and Connie's meeting and engagement will alter the way she sees the world . Another element of this story is the search for independence. Connie's family arguments and attempts to make herself physically attractive are part of her quest for independence. As an adolescent, she was dependent in her childhood on adults for care and discipline as well as to make her social life possible. For example, her father's friend drives her and her close friend to the movies. Although Connie often struggles with her family, especially her mother and sister, they are the only livelihood she truly understands. Her attempts to try to create a sexy side for herself and attract boys at the local restaurant serves as her attempt to understand new areas as well as a new side of herself. Furthermore, his adventures always took place safely until Arnold Friend arrived. She may spend several hours in an alley with a man, but sooner or later she will be brought home to the familiarity of her family, no matter what happens there. Connie's search for independence has a devastating result. Once Arnold shows up and communicateswith her as she tries to pretend to be a grown woman, he pulls her out of her teenage journey and throws her firmly into the real world from where no one will retrieve her. The details Arnold tells Connie describe the reality of the search she embarked on as a teenager seeking independence. He says for example: “I am your lover. You don't know what it is but you will know" and "The place you came from is no longer there, and the place you had in mind to go is canceled. A strange and ambiguous character, Arnold represents all the misunderstandings, worries and anxieties that overshadow any immature teenager's mission for independence. In Connie's particular case, her quest ends on a dark and disturbing note in the story. His manhunt may continue, but everything points to a more irreversible end. A semi-element that can be seen in this story is Arnold's flashy car seen as a symbol representing a hidden future that Connie could not see from above. Arnold's gaudy gold car, written on the sides of his dated buzzwords, is an extension of Arnold himself: excessive and not entirely accurate. The car gives him the first clues that something about Arnold might be completely out of place or dangerous. She begins to complain that the color of the car is so bright that it hurts her eyes, and she is disconcerted by the phrase on the front fender "Flying Saucer Man", an expression that her classmates used but which is no longer fashionable. This reaffirms Connie's feeling that there isn't something very sincere about Arnold; he claims to be the same age as her, but he's not entirely convincing. Not only was the car itself quite off-putting, but Arnold presents it as the vehicle transporting Connie into her new lifestyle. Once Arnold's true destructive nature passes, the car becomes a signifier of everything dark and disturbing about his character. This story also featured a few motifs that are a recurring element that has symbolic meaning in a story. The two major visible motives were dizziness and music. Connie feels dizzy when she realizes that Arnold can overpower her and completely destroy her. At first, Arnold's appearance causes Connie to feel very conflicted between eagerness and fear. However, as the storyline progresses, she is dominated by fear. As Arnold lies to Connie about his age, her heart and soul begin to pound, and she feels "a wave of dizziness rising" when she sees that Ellie is also an adult. Dizziness overcomes her again when Arnold becomes frustrated with her opposition. She realizes that she is overwhelmed and made more vulnerable by the conclusion. She recognizes that he lied to her and that his intentions aren't exactly good, but she probably won't do anything about it. The dizziness is her response to withdrawal and allows Arnold to attack her even more. Music functions as a tunnel for Connie to her fantasy world from the real world. Listening to music and fantasizing about men, Connie loves to escape her life and absorbs her ideas about romance mainly from songs on the radio. The happiness she finds with men is rooted not in the boys themselves, but in their sexual fantasies. Before Arnold even shows up at her house, she demonstrates this again in the tunes she listens to, and it takes her a minute to recognize that these are the same songs coming out of Arnold's car. She finds herself captivated by Arnold even before Connie discovers this resemblance. Connie's music calms her down and the realization that she and Arnold listen to the same.