SELF-DESTRUCTIVE FORCES IN OATES’
WOMEN(全文)
ABSTRACT
This article aims to explore the lf-destructive characteristic traits of women and the unconscious motives behind them in the short story Where Have You Been, Where Are You Going by Joyce Carol Oates. In this respect, Connie’s masochism as oppod to men’s sadism is explored thoroughly within the framework of psychoanalytic approach. The study explains how women turn out to be masochistic people in order to let their hidden and represd lves free and get recognition from men. Moreover, lf-guilt, passivity, and complete submission in Oates’women are analyzed with the reasons that generate them. The roles mothers and society have on the formation of the characteristic traits are studied within the context of Connie’s relationship with her mother becau it is her mother who always criticizes Connie becau of her “trashy dreams”. Finally, considering women’s xuality as a sin that derves punishment, and rape as a xual punishment for women who demand xual freedom in patriarchal world order is
one of the esntial points discusd in this paper.
Key Words: Joyce Carol Oates, Connie, masochism, women, lf-guilt, psychoanalysis.
A very widely known short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You been? by Joyce Carol Oates, is one of the best reprentations of a teenage girl’s entrapment between the expectations of the lf and her family which are in contradiction with each other. It is the story of Connie, who is a beautiful and flirtatious girl, enjoying adolescent xuality with boys. She is fifteen years old and she yearns for xual freedom which she can savor only away from home. Unfortunately, Connie’s xual passion leads her to encounter the ambiguous character Arnold Friend. He is to turn the child Connie into the adult Connie; this is indeed what Connie has been looking for. However, the implications in the story and Oates’inspiration for Arnold Friend show that Connie will be raped and killed by Arnold.
The moment Arnold Friend and Connie first e each other, the way they address and treat one another other is very revealing becau, over time, it turns out to be a master-slave relationship, in which Connie submits to
Arnold Friend’s orders without questioning him. Moreover, it is as if she obeys what Arnold says like a child is listening to her father in an obeying manner. During Arnold’s unexpected visit to Connie’s home, the characters Connie and Arnold symbolize the roles women and men have in patriarchy.
At the end of the story, Connie leaves her home and walks towards Arnold; it is emphasized that Connie is going with him. On the other hand, it depends on the reader’s imagination and point of view where they are going and what is awaiting Connie there. The most common belief is that Connie will be raped and killed by Arnold Friend due to Oates’implication of Arnold as a rial x murderer, who killed and raped girls.
On the other hand, it is left unexplained why Connie submits to a stranger so quickly and easily. One possible answer is that Connie submits becau Arnold threatens her by telling “you don’t want your people in any trouble, do you?”(Oates, 1994, p. 45), which means if she doesn’t do what Arnold says, Arnold will harm her family. Therefore, she gives in and goes with Arnold to prevent any possible harm to her family; however, this is not a
satisfactory answer. It is highly possible that behind Connie’s passivity and subjection to Arnold lie more powerful, unconscious motives. This paper explores psychological and unconscious motives behind women’s lf-destructive traits and their results in the story.
Masochist Women and Sadist Men
There is no doubt that it is a masochistic behavior unquestioningly obeying a person who is going to
hurt you and prevent you from eing your family again. What Arnold tells her has xual implications becau he claims that he is always very nice at first, which signifies Connie’s virginity, and afterwards, he will go inside her and “Connie will give her”. Connie who had been confud about Arnold’s plans up to that point could understand that he is planning to rape her through what he says. Conquently, knowing this fact and agreeing to accompany him proves that Connie has her share of masochism as a woman.
Concerning features of males and females, Juliet Mitchell has argued that dreams about violence have different significations for girls and boys. Take the ca of a dream in which, a child is being beaten. Girls analyze it
that way; firstly it is a sister or a brother that is beaten by the father. This is the sadistic pha, and it signifies jealousy and emerges from the attachment to the mother. On the other hand, in the cond pha, girls perceive it as “I am being beaten by my father”this pha signifies a n of guilt, the call for punishment, and masochism. This n of guilt stems from girls’xual desire for the father. The cond pha is always unconscious and it signifies the oedipal attachment to the father. Therefore, girls feel guilty and need to be punished. The sadism in the first pha turns into masochism in the cond pha. Mitchell maintains that “it express the wish to submit to castratio
n, copulation or childbirth and to get erotic pleasure out of painful experience”(Mitchell, 2000, p. 114). Boys get rid of the oedipal attachment to the mother by identifying themlves later with the fathers; however, girls’oedipal attachment to the father makes them feel guilty by birth. Therefore, boys turn out to be sadists whereas girls tend to be masochists.
One of the esntial motives for women’s masochism or the pleasure that women get from pain is explained by Jessica Benjamin. She notes; “the desire for submission
