Analyzing Joyce Carol Oates 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been'

Laine Holeman

Professor Becky Villarreal

English 1302

March 20, 2016

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Analysis

The story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” written by Joyce Carol Oates has a different, yet catching title. The title plays strongly into the characters. One of the main character Connie really relates to the title. Her mom wants her to be this perfect little girl, whereas Connie likes the attention of guys and to be a little more on the rebel lifestyle. Connie never tells her mom “where she is going, or where she has been” when she is tells her she is at the mall with her friend. Connie’s double life winds up getting her into some danger. She runs into a dangerous problem with another main character
One of the main characters, Connie who is the protagonist of the story. She plays a key role in the central idea of the story with the way she lives so secretive to her family. She is a young teenage girl who lives a double lifestyle. “Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home…” While at home she acts as sweet innocent girl who is overly obsessed with the way she looks. When she leaves the house she becomes almost like an adult. Connie no longer acts 15 years old. She now gets joy from all the attention the men give her. Especially older men. Connie is addicted to the attention they give her. Connie’s maturity level along with her sexual appearance she provides, get her into some grave danger with an older man named Arnold Friend. Arnold friend is the antagonist of the story. He is a very strange character. From his odd car to his appearance. Arnold Friend is not so much a “friend” to Connie. In the story Friend plays the role as a man but in deeper meaning, he is really a demonic figure. When he unexpectedly shows up to Connie’s house, his strangeness begins to grow dramatically. Arnold Friend is not some normal person. He comes off as if he has some deeper issues. Although Arnold Friend has a strange appearance and there seems to be something wrong with him, Connie sees a slight interest in him.Friend
But that does not take away from the story. The 1960’s basic town setting helps the story unfold. In the 1960’s women were not treated as equally as men. They had less power than the men. Arnold Friend proves this when he expects Connie to listen to him when he tells her what to do. Just like the other women in the 1960’s Connie did not want to listen to the men. The smaller town setting made it easier for Arnold friend to find Connie and know exactly what she was doing, along with her family as well. Along with the setting, the third person limited omniscient point of view directs the reader to feel sympathy for Connie. The point of view allows the reader to see Arnold Friend and the situations from Connie’s perspective. If the story was told in a different point of view the reader may get a complete contrasting outcome opinion. The setting and the point of view play together to pus

h the reader to feel for Connie.
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” shows Connie’s double lifestyle brings her to a load of trouble. If only she would have let her family know where she was going, and where she had been, she would not be overpowered by Arnold Friend. Joyce Carol Oates writes her story as if it were a movie. The figurative language, setting, and plot assist the readers while reading this story.
Work Cited

"Database Login at Panola College Library." Database Login at Panola College Library. Web. 15 Mar.