Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? | Psychoanalytical Criticism

Where are you going, where have you been?

By Joyce Carol Oates

Hello everybody! This is a psychoanalytic criticism for Where are you going, where have you been? By Joyce C. Oates.

According to Oates, the story was inspired in a real life situation that happened in Tucson, Arizona in 1996. There was a serial killer, Charles Schmid who committed a triple crime. He was an obsessed adult that killed three teenagers. This sad new inspired Joyce to write the story. Oates dedicated her story to Bob Dylan, because his song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” helped her to write the story.

In “Where are you going, where have you been?” we can find a common and special situation. The protagonist, Connie, she is a young lady pretending to be an adult. She acts like a “mature” person with a teenagers’ thoughts. The relation between Connie and her parents is not good at all. I mean, you might agree in this, in the adolescent we look for acceptance. At those ages, we do not have a defined personality and clear ideas about what we really want. She is trying to be a “popular girl”. Connie is a beautiful lady, everybody knows that. But she forgets something important, being “popular” and beautiful for everybody (including adults, with a big difference between the ages of them and her) can give Connie many problems.

In the story, there is a character, Arnold Friend. He pretends to be a teenager saying he is 18 years old. But the reality is that he is over 30. This guy starts to get obsessed with Connie. He knows many things of her life and family. He has serious intentions against Connie. From my personal point of view, the story gives an open imagination for the ending. At the end, we do not if he wanted to rape Connie or just killed her. If you take into account, Oates’ inspiration, we can see that Charles Schmid (the serial killer) is represented by Arnold Friend in the story. So, was Arnold out of control to kill Connie? During the story, there is an innocent girl acting with vanity and obsessed with her appearance. There is also a man, taking advantage of that innocent to commit a crime. We do not what he is pretending with Connie. Is it to rape her or to kill her? Both are crimes.

The story is reflected in real life. We have young ladies acting like adults. They do not enjoy their adolescent as they should. The way they dress or the make-up they use to impress others is really worrying. The use of social media is getting out of control. People upload everything on internet; personal photos, videos, locations. We do not who is in the other side of the screen studying and analyzing our lives. We should protect our image and privacy. Our personal life should be protected.

Now guys, I want to know what was your reaction after reading the story.

 What do you think happens at the end of the story?

 Do you have any recommendation for teenagers?

Attached a link to website with more information about Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

See you later ;)

-Bell Solís

The Rocking Horse Winner | Formalist Criticism

The Rocking Horse Winner

 by David Herbert Lawrence

Hello everybody! For today, I bring a “formalist criticism” for you, about this story by D. H. Lawrence.

In The Rocking Horse Winner, we can agree and defer with many points of view. For my personal point of view, this story was written with a projection about “the future” living the same really that David was living. I really like this story, because I can relate real things with it. The reading presents a family, a couple that has three children who live in a decent house with good furniture. They do not lack money and essentials things to live well. On the other hand, this woman, wants to project her life as “the worst situation in life” because she lacks of money. Besides that, we can see a “Mother” who is so selfish. Everything Hester wants in her life is money. She does not give love to her children and does not take of them. That is why, the youngest in the family, Paul, starts to ride his rocking-horse to earn money and please his mother.

I personally belief, there are a lot of parents (fathers or mothers) who prefer money and a good life, instead of their children. In The Rocking Horse Winner, we can learn a good lesson for life. Paul, the young boy, wants to see his mother happy. The way he found to make it possible, was through his rocking-horse. Hester always complains about her unlucky husband and the “lack” of money in the house. She thought that money could give them a “happy” life, full of love and desires. She forgot how to be a good mother. Paul, in his innocence, has a “lucky” life. He has good predictions about the horse races using his toy. Paul earns a lot of money by betting in the races. The boy has a goal, “make his mother the happiest”. He spends his life, making predictions in his rocking horse, until he died because of overthinking.

Until this moment, Hester the mother, realize that her selfish life and desires have killed Paul. She knew that money could fill her house, but without a son, there was nothing that could fill her life and her empty heart.

Now guys, I want to know a personal critic from you, towards the story.

• Is it something that happen in real life?
• What do you think about the death of Paul?

If you have not read the story yet, here I attach a website with a summary in detail about The Rocking Horse Winner

See you guys,

-Bell Solís

Beowulf | Mythological Criticism

Beowulf

(unknown author)

   Hello everybody, thanks for being here reading my blogs once again. For today we have a Mythological Criticism for Beowulf.

Grendel's mother

    Beowulf was first created as a poem (a really long poem). There is a good movie for this poem, I recommend you to look for it and watch it. Beowulf has an unknown author, but many people claims that it was probably based on real life. In this poem, you can find a lot of important details that make it interesting. From my personal point of view, there are many aspects in which I defer, because those are beliefs that we do not have now. First of all, we have the conflicts between the king and the creatures. There are two mythological creatures fighting against the kingdom, because they (Grendel and his mother) pretend to destroy the king Hygelac. But, once Grendel is killing the soldiers from the kingdom, he cannot attempt against the king Hygelac (because he is his father). Yes, guys, that sounds weird. They are mythological creatures; how could that be possible? We can find in many stories written many years ago, the existence of these type of “living creatures”. My argument here is, if they were not humans, how they had a son (Grendel). In the past, these creatures were just like a “curse” for people.

Grendel

   On the other hand, we have Beowulf, who is the king’s nephew. He is considered the hero in this poem. Beowulf is a warrior that possess enormous strength and courageous to confront the monster (I want to make emphasis in “enormous strength”). Now, we do not have people with those “special powers”. This hero defeated Grendel and his mother, but there is actually one more thing. He got charmed by the lady and they had a son (a Dragon). Grendel’s appearance is not described at all, but he has some similarities with humans, with horrible aspects. Beowulf’s son, is a Dragon. Today, we can find this creature in many recent movies, but we do not have evidence of their actual existence. The same happens with “the hero”. His son (dragon) wants to destroy the kingdom and kill Beowulf. At the end, Beowulf, the hero dies saving and protecting innocent people from the kingdom.

Dragon

    Regarding some archetypal criticism, I want to share some with you based on the movie. We have “water”, it represents birth and life. Grendel’s mother lives into a lagoon. There is a lot of “blood” during the movie, it represents the sacrifice of many warriors protecting the kingdom. We have number three, it represents unity and power. There three creatures; Grendel and his mother, and the Dragon. There is a hero, Beowulf. And there is finally, a sacrificial scapegoat, when Beowulf, the hero, dies to save his people.

Now guys, I want to your points of view about this poem/story.

How can you relate this story with real life?

Attached a short summary video about Beowulf (click here)

See you later ;)

-Bell Solís