A Selective Vision of American Society in 1960s From Where Are You Going， Where Have You Been？

宋昱

Joyce Carol Oates is an important contemporary writer who is talented and prolific. She is a social novelist writing in the realist tradition. Oats chooses her characters from the common run of mankind， and makes their lives the subject of the story and she is good at representing their inner complexities and their sufferings in face of overwhelming pressures， either from society， or from the interference of fate， of from their emotional inadequacies. Oats feels that she is offering an authentic representation of contemporary life. Some very good short stories written by her have been frequently anthologized in textbooks. The short story Where Are You Going， Where Have You Been？ reflects the vision of American society selectively in the 1960s by using many symbols.

The story itself is more like concerning a teenagers problem. Connie is a fifteen-year-old teenager growing up in suburbia in the 1960s. She is preoccupied with typical teenage concerns： her looks and popular music. She argues with her mother， makes fun of her older， plainer sister， and hangs out with her friends in restaurants or doing other social ventures. We know that political and social events influence writers in both theme and technique. After reading the story we may have a general impression of American society in 1960s. At that time there was a widespread discontentment among the postwar generation， whose voice was one of protest against all the mainstream culture that America had come to represent. This has come to be known as the Beat Generation. The word “beat” represented a non-conformist， rebellious attitude toward conventional values concerning sex， religion， the arts， and the American way of life. It was an attitude that resulted from the feeling of depression and exhaustion and the need to escape into an unconventional， sometimes communal， mode of living.

Another character merits much more attention， Arnold Friend. Talking about Connie， who was still a teenager and might just be influenced by her circumstance and society， we should also concern her family and parent. She acted in two sides because she regarded it as a way to get rid of her fussy mother， indifferent father and plain sister. But Arnold Friend was totally different， he was a grown man and he connected completely to the society. His appearance was not tidy or spruce， but that could still amuse Connie. We can find this had become the tendency that people dressed or apparel themselves. Arnold Friend tried to be cool to attract young girls like Connie. Now we can find how American society defined coolness at that time， or in another word， what was the standard to define coolness. Faded jeans， scuffed boots， the belt and an untidy face， he intended to mimic like a rock music singer. Obviously here the rebellious attitude toward tradition was shown by their personal style， such as long hair and grotesque clothes.endprint

Oats deliberately mentioned the boots and sunglasses of Arnold Friend several times and as if it was unintentional repetition. His high boots made him unbalanced and change of the position of his sunglasses may have a sense of discordant. A person who wears a high boots can show his indifference and superiority. And sunglasses could be a good barrier that separated the outside world or prevented the eyes contacting. The alienation between people permeated everywhere in the society. People abandoned the normal and traditional way to associate with the others. Being cool and being craziness took the place of traditional moral value.

This story also reflected females status at that time. Connie， as one of the representatives， lingered between the house and outsider world （restaurant）. The house represented the traditional life and value. In the story， Connie did frequently go to the restaurant as if she enjoyed so much from it. Restaurant as we know is just a public place. For Connie， restaurant represented the colorful and attractive outside world. Her behavior proved that female were eager to go outside and have their own life at that time. That was also the sign of the revival of feminism. The womens movement called for an end to job discrimination demanded equal pay for equal work. It also demanded free abortion， establishment of child-care centers， and freedom for women to do things as they saw fit.

The whole story mainly reflected the living mode and moral value in American society in 1960s. It presented the issue of counterculture， which was actually young peoples rebellion against traditional values， standard of behavior， and traditional morality. Teenagers doubted almost everything traditional， such as government authority， respect for parents， and the traditional way of doing things. Disillusioned with the American dream， many young people adopted a kind of cynicism. They felt society took nonchalant approach to their needs. In retaliation， they refused to co-operate with society.endprint