We, Still, Like Our Own Best.

In Jane Austen’s Persuasion, the author wastes no time to begin satirizing. We are first introduced to Sir Walter, the wealthy, although frivolous father of Elizabeth, Anne, and Mary. Sir Walter is depicted as being self-absorbed, selfish and, pretentious. He is not evil, he is simply old-fashioned. Austen uses his character to poke fun at the declining aristocracy. Sir Walter is a very impractical man who practices lavish living to maintain his appearance. However, his refusal to let go of this way of life threatens his family’s future. His situation is comical, and Austen uses heavy satire to express the predicament of being unable to “devise any means of lessening their expenses without compromising their dignity, or relinquishing their comforts” (Austen 11). Austen attacks Sir Walter as he upholds the importance of appearance and elitism. Sir Walter greatly contrasts to Wentworth, a self-made, manly man. Wentworth personifies Austen’s idea of a modern gentleman. 

Austen also pokes fun at how rigid her society’s structure is. The only way for social mobility in Austen’s world is through marriage, or by joining the navy. However, Sir Walter looks down even on the navy saying “I should be sorry if any friend of mine were belonging to it” (Austen 16). Austen also challenges the separation of work between a husband and wife. She advocates for a more equal marriage. Admiral and Mrs. Croft exemplify this marriage in the way they drive their carriage. Admiral Croft and his wife drive the carriage sitting next to each other and share the responsibility. 

Despite all this, Austen doesn’t entirely abandon ideas of class, and hierarchy. Her protagonist, Anne, is in no way a perfect egalitarian (not that I expect her to be). Although she strays from acting like typical women at the time, she is not catty, or hysterical. In fact, when Louisa smacks her head, Anne manages to keep a level head and care for her instead.  However, she also greatly dislikes Mrs. Clay simply because she is very against the idea of her father marrying a woman of lower class. Anne remains dutiful to her family. Instead of marrying the love of her life, she broke off the engagement because her father and Lady Russell did not think it was appropriate. When she finally does marry Wentworth, it is now safe. Wentworth has risen in wealth and social standing in the previous years, and thus, the marriage does not challenge the class system. Despite ideas of deviating from the social standards, Anne still returns to her known realm and doesn’t exactly step out of tradition.

Works Cited:

 Austen, Jane. Persuasion. New York: Knopf, 1992. Print. 

Friend Or Fiend?

 The job of a parent is in no way an easy task. The responsibility involved in bringing another human into the world — raising it, teaching it values, caring for it —can often seem an overwhelming mission. So, if you, when the parenting time comes, feel apprehensive about undertaking such a responsibility, or want to feel better about your own parenting skills, look no further than Joyce Carol Oates “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”. Ironically, the title of the story happens to be the exact questions the parents of Connie, our protagonist, never seem to be concerned with asking. And, this is just the beginning of their parenting fails. 

A child’s actions and beliefs tend to be a reflection of those of their parents. Thus, Connie’s narcism and emphasis on the importance of beauty stems from her mother’s own superficiality. Despite the constant tension between Connie and her mother, Connie is convinced “her mother really prefers her over her…sister…because she [Connie]  is prettier” (Wegs 101). From her mother, Connie learns “real value lies in beauty” (Wegs 101). With this view, Connie is interested in only the glamorous and is consequently obsessed with how she looks. She had a “habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors…to make sure her own was all right” (Oates 1). Later, when she would meet Arnold Friend, her allure towards the glamorous and flashy: the golden jalopy, reflective sunglasses, dazzling smile, would make her slow to see just how dangerous this stranger was. 

While Connie’s mother was the embodiment of a bad role model, Connie’s father provided no guidance at all. He went to work, came home, ate dinner, went to bed. He “didn’t bother talking to them much”, and definitely took very little interest in Connie’s whereabouts (Oates 1). Further, since “none of them bothered with church”, Connie lacked adequate moral guidance in the absence of parental guidance. Thus, she turned towards pop culture. The values in the music she listened to, and the movies she watched became her own values. Connie, as a naive and abandoned youth, is then taught to believe in romantic love and youthful beauty, which only adds to her superficial views.

Connie’s incorrect views reach a critical point when instead of perceiving Arnold Friend as a threat, she views him as the “embodiment of the teenage ideals celebrated in pop songs” (Oates 102). Connie’s only roadmap of life, the fantasy worlds she sees on the screen, leads her astray because she has only ever seen life through rose-tinted glasses. Further analysis of the story, albeit perhaps far-fetched, suggests the lack of moral guidance in Connie’s life, whether religious or folk-related, causes her to be unfamiliar with demonic or evil manifestations, and thus, fails to recognize the wolf in sheep’s clothing, or rather, the fiend impersonating a friend. 

Works Cited:

Oates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” New Brunswick: RutgersUniversity Press, 2002. Print.

Wegs, Joyce M. “’Don’t You Know Who I Am?’: The Grotesque in Oate’s ‘Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?’” Journal of Narrative Technique 5, 1995. Print.