Conventions of Psychoanalysis in "Where are you going, Where have you been" by Joyce Carol Oates

        The story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" by Joyce Carol Oates is truly littered with conventions of Psychoanalysis. Freud developed a list of defense mechanisms used by the human subconscious in order to deal with issues too intense for the conscious mind. These strategies of the psyche are translated into symbols scattered throughout this work. These symbols are expressed through the characters of Connie, and Arnold Friend.         The first convention is denial. …showed first 75 words of 784 total…

…showed last 75 words of 784 total…that maybe at sometime in her life, Joyce Carol Oates might have been accosted or actually assaulted by a man similar to the villain in this story. Her subconscious might find it easier to deal with the terrible real event by expressing it through literature. This succeeds in allowing her to come to grips with her fear without suppressing it and at the same time keeping it less threatening than talking about the actual experience.