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Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been/Oates

            "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?".
             Joyce Carol Oates's Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? is an interesting dichotomy of a girl's coming of age story and a grim fairy tale. The protagonist in this story is Connie, a vain young girl with a penchant for trashy dreams; while Arnold Friend is her antagonist, an evil force most likely, the Pied Piper or the Devil. Their interaction and foreshadowed moments bring the story to its inevitable tragic end. The character of Connie will be the first explored.
             Connie is established in the beginning of the story as a vain, shallow daydreamer. It's these flaws that bring about her fall. In the first paragraph, her vanity is clearly displayed:.
             " craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking .
             other people's faces to make sure her own was all right." (p.60).
             She thinks of little else except mindless daydreams, which end up harming her later on:.
             " dreaming about the boys she met." (p.62).
             "Connie couldn't do a thing, her mind was all filled with.
             trashy daydreams." (p.60).
             Connie succumbs to her "trashy dreams" in the form of the evil entity that has come to take her away. She is seduced by way of her vanity and mistakes death for an erotic romance of a trashy kind; a sort of fatal attraction to the evil of Arnold Friend.
             Arnold Friend is a sexual swaggart disguised as the ultimate trashy dream- James Dean:.
             " he had shaggy, shabby black hair- (p.63).
             " tight faded jeans stuffed into black scuffed boots, a .
             belt that pulled his waist in a white pull over shirt .
             even his neck looked muscular- (p.65).
             He stereotypes the ideal rebel that Connie would want. There are also clues that Arnold Friend's true identity is that of the Pied Piper. Music and sounds are constantly recurring in the story, enticing Connie every time into a daydream where everything seems great:.
             " charm bracelets jingling- (p.61).
             " she was hearing music in her head- (p.


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1. Joyce Carol Oates And Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

The Life of Joyce Carol Oates and Her Story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? ... Perhaps, one of her most notable works is the short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? "The material for Oates's writing comes from everywhere [and] her characters are admittedly composites of real people" (3: 120) this statement could not be more true when you consider the origin of the short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" ... Oates may have been showing characteristics of her own young adulthood through her character Connie. ... It is decided from ...

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2. Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been

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3. Where are you going, Where have you been?

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  • Word Count: 681
  • Approx Pages: 3
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4. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates

False perceptions and stark realities are seen in Joyce Carol Oates' short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" ... Oates describes Arnold's hair as looking like a wig. ... Oates elucidates that Arnold has a "long and hawk like (nose), sniffing as if she (Connie) were a treat he was going to gobble up and it was all a joke"" (368). ... As Connie is walking past the screen door, Oates writes, "so much land that Connie had never seen before and did not recognize except to know that she was going to it" (377). ... Her fantasy has been destroyed and the reality of the event...

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  • Grade Level: High School

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6. Where Are You Going Where Have You Been - Inspiration for

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Oates wrote in many types of forms, but most of her books have strong elements of naturalism, a literary style emphasizing an objective presentation of life. ... In story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" ... In the story "Where are you going, where have you been?" ... In the story "Where are you going, where have you been?" ... Also, if you add 33, 19, and 17 all together; you get the number 69. ...

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Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? The techniques that Joyce Carol Oates incorporated throughout "Where Are You Going, Where Have you Been," are ineffective in making this a believable narrative. ... I"ll hold you so tight you won't think you have to try to get away or pretend anything because you know that you can't. ... He just comes right out, and says that he is going to have sex with her and there is nothing that she could do to stop him. "Where you are going, Where have you been?" ...

  • Word Count: 497
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

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