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Essay / Joyce Carol Oates and Sowing Wild Oats: Background for “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”
The life and times of Joyce Carol Oates have a dynamic impact on the short story “Where Are You Going ; ; Where Have You Been" in which music, myths and mores shape the social text corresponding to the 1960s. The 1965 rock song, "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" harmonizes lyrically and historically in Oates' short story, "Where Have You Been are you going; Where have you been." First, the story's strange antagonist, Arnold Friend, a serial killer-rapist, represents a fictionalized version of Charles Schmid who, because of the 1966 Tucson murders, attracted the attention of Oates as the basic character of her story plagiarism Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"?Get the original essayOates herself confessed the inspiration. and the impact that “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue” has on this particular narrative “In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” Oates makes an ordinary tale extraordinary by juxtaposing two powerful legends: the modern rock hero. (the story is dedicated to activist songwriter Bob Dylan) and former demon lover” (Bender) The lines of the first verse of the song read: “There stands your orphan. with his gun, crying like fire in the sun." The Desperate and Dangerous Child refers to none other than Arnold Friend/Charles Schmid. Schmid grew up without parents – he came from parents who rejected him and was later adopted into a foster family that offered no guidance. The child/adult image evokes a juxtaposed image of innocence and danger, purity and corruption. As a predator of adolescent girls, Schmid corresponds to this double figure of childishness mixed with dangerous aggressiveness. In the novel, her unfortunate victim reflects her dual personality since Connie herself has a dual-faceted character. She is both woman and girl, experienced and naive. After brutally raping Connie, Friend calls her "my sweet little blue-eyed girl." This epithet is an obvious reference to the title of Bob Dylan's 1965 song "It's All Over Now Baby Blue". Friend is obsessed with blue-eyed girls and the woman in the song is affectionately called "Baby Blue". The fact that "it's all over now" means that there will be a definite tragedy at the end. The haunting refrain “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue” permeates the song, reminding the hapless character of an impending fall. The second verse of Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” refers to “The empty-handed painter of your streets; It’s drawing crazy patterns on your sheets. These lines again point to Charles Schmid as a psychopath with the fusion of the demented, threatening adult and the troubled child. Schmid had his own psychological challenges as he boasted of having a special sixth sense with clairvoyance, hallucinations and special psychic faculties. According to him, these abilities placed him above his colleagues. This demented pattern marks Schmid as someone who was on the verge of committing an antisocial transgression, provoking horror akin to an adult's act of scribbling on sheets. Dylan's third verse mentions a magic carpet of travel: “the carpet also moves beneath you. ; And it's all over now, Baby Blue. This indication of enchantment and forced capture links Connie's kidnapping by Arnold Friend and parallels Charles Schmid and the raped girls of Tucson. Dizziness, mental cloudiness, and helplessness overwhelm Connie as she realizes her impending destruction. The magic carpet has its origins in the oriental myth which tells the story of a legendary carpet transporting its riders to distant and exciting lands. The irony is that theThe distant land that Friend promises Connie as she rides on his magic carpet – his golden automobile – is death. After Friend ravages Connie and orders her to get out of the car, Oates likens his order to an "incantation" that evokes an unbreakable magic spell that bewitches the victim. In 1965, Charles Schmid transported his victims to a remote Arizona desert where, after raping them, he buried the girls' corpses in shallow graves. In the final verse of "It's All Over Baby Blue", the final four lines of the song further connect the real-life experiences of Charles Schmid and Arnold's fictional friend, depicting them as drifters who mirror their victims in their outfit clothing and their behavior to trap them. and exploit them. The vagabond who knocks on your door; Is standing in the clothes you once wore; Start another match, go start a new one; And it's all over now, Baby Blue. Another Bob Dylan song released in 1965, Mr. Tambourine Man, also attracted a Pied Piper audience. The chorus resonates, Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play me a song; I am not sleepy; and there is no place where I go; Hey ! Mr. Tambourine Man, play me a song. In the morning of the jingle jangle, I will come and follow you. The intoxicating music inevitably poisons the minds of the tambourine player's audience and they follow the one who resembled the flute player. The article Oates read in 1966 that prompted her to write this short story was entitled "The Pied Piper of Tucson," written by Don Moser on March 4, 1966. Filled with irony, this title of news actually announced the murder of a few teenage girls brutally murdered by Charles Schmid. Most children know the nursery rhyme/story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin who lured unsuspecting city mice with his skillful performances on the flute. Ultimately, he led the vermin to a river where they drowned and died. However, a darker story underlies this tale of the Pied Piper. After being denied compensation for his services, the piper lured the town's children with his magical music and they reportedly disappeared without a trace. The Pied Piper wore attractive and colorful clothes and made friends with the children through his captivating music. Similarly, Charles Schmid was a child predator who disguised himself as a teenager in order to captivate teenage girls. Usually he would deflower the girls before killing them. He dresses as Elvis Presley, an American pop-rock icon who was all the rage in the 1960s and who will change his image. Charles Schmid preyed on teenage girls who couldn't resist his innate appeal: he owned a nice car, dyed his hair jet black, and stuffed his shoes to appear taller. In the short story, Arnold Friend also stuffs his boots to enhance his relatively small size. Connie observes that when Friend approaches her, her gait is unsteady, as the boots seem to be filled with something. Oates notes that “it was a time of repression…Sexual harassment, sexual politics of any kind, sex crimes did not exist as a category” (Birbaum). General sexual ignorance and the taboo of sex made the work of pedophile predators like Schmid and Friend easier, because the girls were mostly innocent in the true sense of the word. When the Tucson murder case opened in Tucson, Arizona, it shook all of America. American parents are now more aware of sex crimes and the vulnerability of their children. Arnold Friend and Charles Schmid have a particular taste for underage nubile girls and take advantage of it. “Charles Schmid was arrestedon November 11, 1965 for marrying a fifteen-year-old minor on October 24, 1965. As if it were not a coincidence, Connie, Arnold Friend's victim, was fifteen years old when she was raped and killed by him. Although Schmid did not kill Diane Lynch, he raped and murdered Wendy Fritz (thirteen), Gretchen Fritz (seventeen), and Alleen Rowe (fifteen). In the short story “Where Are You Going?” Where did you go,” the kickoff lines begin with “Her name was Connie – she was fifteen.” In the story, Friend's victim was fifteen-year-old Connie, and in reality, Schmid's first murder victim was fifteen-year-old Alleen Rowe. Friend and Schmid, as pedophilic predators, choose teenage girls because of their attractiveness, naivety and easy susceptibility. Like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, Arnold Friend made sure he was equipped with all the accessories necessary to lure young girls into his car: the automobile's attractive exterior, its fashion statement, its speech and its name. “It was an open jalopy, painted a brilliant gold that caught the sunlight.” As soon as Connie saw the shiny car parked outside with the driver honking, she rushed outside. Like a moth to a flame that attracts and puts her in danger, a fascinated Connie is drawn to the car, curious and eager to see a handsome guy. It is well known that many sexual predators use a nice car as a ploy to ensnare girls and women. Another powerful link that links Arnold Friend to the sinister Pied Piper is the vernacular and music. Connie observes that Friend speaks in a "singing voice", "a slight rhythmic cadence" and has a "singing" way of speaking that reminds her of a popular song from days gone by. It is also no coincidence that she sees a resemblance between his voice and that of a musical disc jockey (DJ). He also talks to Connie about a favorite teen topic, popular teen music, throwing names like Bobby King at her. The entire scenario takes place against the backdrop of music blaring from the car's transistor radio. The exact radio program she is listening to is broadcast in her attacker's car. Friend is the teenager's mirror, forging a similar identity with them in order to gain trust and acceptance. Chant is a type of lively, rhythmic music sung by the Celts of Ireland in the absence of instruments. Additionally, Friend makes sure he is aware of the adolescent dialect and speaks the most current phrases that American youth would use to communicate with each other. With ease, Friend speaks to Commie like a peer; however, in a fit of anger, he blurts out a succession of adolescent catchphrases he has learned. As if in a clairvoyant or medium trance, Arnold Friend reveals to Connie where his family was, what they were doing, and who was present at the family barbecue. It appears that Friend had the psychic ability to fascinate his victims and peer into the future and omniscient vision of the present. “Right now, they’re uh… drinking.” “Sit,” he said vaguely, narrowing his eyes as if staring at the town and Aunt Tillie’s garden. Then the vision seemed to become clear and he nodded emphatically. » To appeal to girls, Friend makes sure her dress projects style, confidence and masculine charm. Friend and his cohort both wear sunglasses (posing as a cool guy in the 1960s). Oates reports that "Connie liked the way he dressed, and it was the way they all dressed: skinny, faded jeans stuffed into black, scuffed boots, a belt that pulled in his waist and showed how much he was thin. » The trendy outfit highlighted Friend's well-built physiquein order to enchant women in his car at their own risk. Popular clothing made Friend an accepted and included part of teenage social circles and by extension; they give him a certain weight with his daughter victims. Another critic, Marie Mitchell Urbanski, suggests that the story is actually "the setting for a religious allegory – the seduction of Eve" (Mitchell). Eve and Pandora in the myths of theodicy are both the temptress and the seduced. They both throw the world into confusion due to their desire to satisfy their immediate desires for pleasure and ultimately pay a high price for their corrupt inclinations. The serpent tricks Eve into eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, then persuades her husband, Adam, to eat the fruit. As the sacred text says, they both end up dying as punishment for their transgression. This connection is appropriate since it is through the temptation and seduction of the woman that a veritable Pandora's box opens where chaos is unleashed in the world. Oates prefaces the book by showing how Connie cares about clothes and her appearance. Then its predator, like a subtle snake, must adopt an attractive facade that would break down its defenses and open it to attack. To create a false sense of security, Arnold adopts the last name "Friend" in order to befriend his prey. When Connie hesitates to get into his car, his friend says, "Don't you know I'm your friend?" His lyrics strangely express the theme of Death and the Maiden, which bodes ill for Connie. “Death and the Maiden” features as an important theme in the short story because it evokes the predation of childhood. The legend is poeticized by Schubert which unfolds like this. : Give me your hand, adorable and tender child. I am your friend and do you no harm. You see, I'm not wild. Now go sleep on my arm. Connie, exemplified by her common damsel in distress. calls for help but no one hears him. She is brought to her knees, subjected to a twisted man who would like to control her to achieve his own ends, he tries to lull her with lies and false oaths. Serial murders in Arizona in 1966, the girls killed were all friends and girlfriends of Charles Schmid. To get the girls to let down their guard, the two sexual predators try to foster an atmosphere of trust and friendship. “A long, hawk-like nose, sniffing as if she were a treat he was about to gobble up.” Hawks are not only predatory birds, but they are also omens of death, witchcraft, and evil - which is not an optimistic sign for Connie. Hawks have keen vision, just like an eagle. Its eyesight transcends the normal vision of an average animal. For maximum hunting success, the falcon has binocular vision that can spot a possible victim from a distance. Oates's biography and narrative are inseparable from each other (Johnson). The neighborhood where Connie lives resembles the Oates cottage where she grew up as a child. Oates experienced an average childhood growing up on her parents' ranch in Lockport, a small rural New York town dating back to 1938. "Where Are You Going" chronicles Connie living on an asbestos-filled ranch, a place with which Oates would be family as she lived in a rural New York town with poor parents who were struggling to survive. The passage also reveals that to go to a restaurant or a movie, Connie must travel miles to the nearest, most modernized town. Before Oates could speak, she was telling stories through her drawings. Over time, storytelling became an intrinsic part of his life. In 1953, at the age of fifteen, Oates>.