Every horror story has the same basic outline, the antagonist pursues a certain goal or target while the protagonist turns into the damsel in distress. In the short story “Where Are You Going,Where Have You Been,” Joyce Carol Oates expertly executes the aspects of the horror genre by adding fairy-tale aspects like Cinderella and Red Riding Hood to characters and atmosphere; giving the tale an eerie feeling. Throughout the story, the actions that Connie takes against Arnold portrays the damsel as a tragic victim of a man who has such a sexual appetite for the poor soul that her fate becomes unavoidable.
The story of Cinderella represents the life that Connie lives, Connie is strikingly beautiful with dirty blonde hair and is neglected and …show more content…
Connie shines a ray of innocence that resembles Red Riding Hood. By the way Oates describes Connie, she has all of the stereotypical feminine attributes. The age that the young protagonist is depicted in shows that Connie is still in the stages of innocence, still discovering new thoughts and ideas. Like Little Red, she being is bombarded by a mysterious figure, not knowing the wickedness that hides beneath the charm of the antagonist. When Arnold mentions the elderly woman to Connie, she reacts with disgust when Arnold brought up the subject. The venerable woman symbolizes the grandmother when Arnold says, “Hey, you know that old woman down the road, the one with chickens and stuff --- You know her?”(424) At this point Connie snaps back to the decrepit pervert and says, “She’s dead… She’s dead----she’s------She isn’t here anymore.” (424) This shows relations to the elderly woman and Connie because Little Red’s grandmother, like the elderly woman, is practically down the street when said in the Grimm Fairy tale, “The grandmother lived out in the woods, a half hour from the village.” (Grimm 93) The death of the woman correlates the point when Little Red’s grandmother is devoured by the wolf. Showing that the poor child has no one to protect her from the wrath of the “Wolf” that is
The story of Cinderella represents the life that Connie lives, Connie is strikingly beautiful with dirty blonde hair and is neglected and …show more content…
Connie shines a ray of innocence that resembles Red Riding Hood. By the way Oates describes Connie, she has all of the stereotypical feminine attributes. The age that the young protagonist is depicted in shows that Connie is still in the stages of innocence, still discovering new thoughts and ideas. Like Little Red, she being is bombarded by a mysterious figure, not knowing the wickedness that hides beneath the charm of the antagonist. When Arnold mentions the elderly woman to Connie, she reacts with disgust when Arnold brought up the subject. The venerable woman symbolizes the grandmother when Arnold says, “Hey, you know that old woman down the road, the one with chickens and stuff --- You know her?”(424) At this point Connie snaps back to the decrepit pervert and says, “She’s dead… She’s dead----she’s------She isn’t here anymore.” (424) This shows relations to the elderly woman and Connie because Little Red’s grandmother, like the elderly woman, is practically down the street when said in the Grimm Fairy tale, “The grandmother lived out in the woods, a half hour from the village.” (Grimm 93) The death of the woman correlates the point when Little Red’s grandmother is devoured by the wolf. Showing that the poor child has no one to protect her from the wrath of the “Wolf” that is