Comparing Where Are you going, Where Have You Been and...

Authors of great stories often use good technical writing skills. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast two short stories: Where Are you going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates and Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway. The comparison and contrast will be done based on their use of plot, point of view and character development. The short story where are you going, where have you been is about a teenage girl who is, vain, self-doubting and affixed in the present. She does not know anything about the past or doubts it and has no plan of the future. She argues with her mother and she thinks she is jealous of her. The start of the plot is not very dramatic rather it is more like an introduction. We get a good†¦show more content†¦We just find them sitting at the train station having a dialogue. The reader has to follow the symbols and their conversation closely to interpret them in his/her own way. The conflict, which is the girls pregnancy followed by, the complication, which is the decision she has to make whether to go through the abortion, or not is not clearly stated. Even the word pregnancy or abortion is not mentioned in the story. In where are you going, where have you been the major conflict is the lack of self-confidence and immaturity of Connie. From that, the complication of being stalked by Arnold arises. The author does not just tell us Connie is a naive girl but discusses her actions and lack of actions leading us to believe so. Because of that, by the time the complication start taking shape, the reader can almost guess what would be next, that is Arnold is one of the boys that are Connie’s age. Knowing a lot about Connie by now, we will guess after being reluctant for a while she will take off with him like she has done before so many times, there how ever is a surprise waiting. Once we start following the dialogue between Connie and Arnold and know more about his awkward looks and language we start understanding the symbolism Oates has been using. He is the prince of darkness and he is there to take Connie to her final destiny, the land of the dead. Talking about the old woman down the street who was also murdered he isShow MoreRelatedSummary Of Hills Like White Elephants 909 Words   |  4 Pages2015 Essay Responses to Short Stories Discuss possible symbolic representations in â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants†? In the story â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants† the white elephant symbolizes a negative thing. No person would want anything to do with this. For example, the girl’s unborn child. In the beginning of the story the girl made a comment, and she said that the surrounding hills resemble white elephants. 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