Essay, Research Paper: "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Bee

In the stories "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" by Joyce Carol Oates and "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" by Flannery O'Connor both of the main characters are trapped by men who are going to eventually kill them. They both say how you can't talk your way out of danger, evil. When dangerous men trap you, your sweet talk or pretty face is not going to get you out of trouble. In the end, they may even be the cause of your demise.
In "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" the main character Connie is a very attractive young girl who gets many people's attention. Unfortunately, one day she caught the wrong man's attention. While her family went to a family picnic, Connie decided that she wanted to stay home. She heard a car pull up and when she caught a glimpse of the boys she recognized the driver from the night before. The drivers said his name was Arnold Friend. They wanted to take her for a ride and Arnold was very persistent. Finally, she noticed something about the boys. They weren't boys. "Connie felt a wave of dizziness rise in her at this sight and she stared at him as if waiting for something to change the shock of the moment, make it al right again" pg. 371.
Connie told them that they should leave, but they wouldn't. Then, Arnold began to talk about the barbecue that her family was at like he was there and he knew everyone's name. Connie began to panic, she told Arnold that he was crazy and she was going to call the police. Arnold promised that he wasn't going to go after her unless she touched the phone. "She rushed forward and tried to lock the door… 'But why lock it' Arnold Friend said… 'It's just a screen door'" pg. 373. He proceeded to harass her. He told said, "It's all over for you here, so come out. You don't want your people in any trouble, do you?" pg. 376. At this statement she ran to the back room and picked up the telephone, "…she felt her breath start jerking back and forth in her lungs as if it were something Arnold Friend was stabbing her with again and again with no tenderness… After a while she could hear again. She was sitting on the floor with her wet back against the wall" pg. 376. Then, she went out the screen door where Arnold Friend was waiting. She had given up. She knew at that point that she could not save herself.
In A "Good Man Is Hard To Find" the main character that tries to talk her way out of getting killed is the grandmother. There was a killer on the loose called the Misfit and was heading towards Florida, where the family was going. Despite the grandmothers attempts to stop them from going they went anyway. On their way they had an accident. They were trapped in a ditch. Then, three men stopped and came out of the car. They had guns, and when the men came down, "the grandmother shrieked… 'You're the Misfit…I recognized you at once'. 'Yes'm… but it would have been better for all of you, lady, if you hadn't of reckernized me'" pg. 387.
While the grandmother talked to the Misfit, her son and grandson were taken into the woods. "There was a pistol shot from the woods, followed closely by another. Then silence. The old lady's head jerked around… 'Bailey Boy!' she cried" pg. 390. When the man came back he was dragging a shirt with him. The grandmother couldn't think of what it reminded her of. The misfit put I it on. "The children's mother had begun to make heaving noises as if she couldn't get her breath" pg. 391. She knew what happened. So then she went to the woods too. "There was a piercing scream from the woods, followed closely by a pistol report" pg. 392. The grandmother was saying "Jesus!… You've got blood! I know you wouldn't shoot a lady…" pg. 392. She was trying to persuade him with money. I response he said, "Lady… there never was a body that give the undertaker a tip" pg. 392. More shots came form the woods. All of a sudden "she saw the man's face twisted close to her own as if he were going to cry and she murmured, 'Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children!' she reached out and touched him on the shoulder… and the Misfit shot her three times through the chest" pg.393.
In both stories the characters tried to talk there way out of getting killed, and they both failed. Connie was relying on her good looks and charm while the grandmother used the phrase;
"You wouldn't shoot a lady." The main conflicts involved were figuring out the connection between the two killings and how they approached their attackers. Connie used charm and threats, both, which worked against her. When she went to the phone it caused her more problems. The grandmother used her age and guilt. Telling him that he wouldn't kill a lady, and that he was a good man, she knew it. She tried to talk her way into his head and heart. That also got her killed. To resolve these conflicts you had to look closely at the context of the stories. Read them carefully and pick up on the sayings and lines. After reading them both for a second time, I picked up on phrases more towards the beginning of the situation that had relevance to the ending.
Interpreting stories can be very difficult. You have to reread stories to get the full meaning of them and many don't want to waste their time doing that. It is very beneficial though. I am one of those people who sometimes don't remember the story I just read if it doesn't interest me, and am too lazy to read it again. But in this essay, rereading the stories gave me a better understanding and more to think about than when I read them the first time. It is the small details that are the most precious when analyzing stories.