Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Essay

In 1966, Joyce Carol Oates published her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”. Oates was inspired to write this story after reading about a serial killer that was referred to as “The Pied Piper of Tucson”. Oates was disturbed by the number of teenagers that this killer was able to persuade to help him and keep his secrets (Oates 1). Oates uses irony, imagery, and symbolism to support her theme of evil in this short story.

In J.C. Oates story, “Where are you going, Where Have You Been”, the writing is based on a true story known as “The Tale of Charles Schmid” , about a twenty-three-year-old who rides through teenage hangouts, picking up girls for rides in his gold convertible. The story took place in the mid-summer where there was this family of

Oates, Carol Joyce. “Where Are You Going, Where Have Been?” 40 Short stories: A Portable Anthology , 4th ed., edited by Beverly Lawn, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012, pp. 369-392.

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates is a short story about a 15-year old girl named Connie that falls in the trap of Arnold Friend. There are many interpretations to this short story, and many arguments have fought back and forth to find out the true inside meaning to find out what the reason was for Joyce Carol Oates to write this story. There are hundreds of analyses for this story out there, but I am going to just be talking about three; “Existential Allegory” by Marie Urbanski, “A Psychoanalysis of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Cameron Lee, and my personal interpretation of this short story.

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, is one of the many short stories written by Mrs. Joyce Carol Oates that has become highly recognized. It was inspired by a magazine story about a serial killer. It quickly it became very popular andwas even the basis for the 1985 hit movie, “SmoothTalk”. Like many other short stories and novels written by Joyce Carol Oates, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” is a story that is consumed by evil, the theme. In the story evil is projected through the eyes of the characters.(Weinberger 207) Joyce Carol Oates has been labeled by many as a, “writer of psychological realism”(Wegs 69), which is seen in this story. Tied

Joyce Carol Oates has kept her true inspiration behind “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” in order to create a willing suspension of disbelief between realism and fantasy. The short story by Oates was released soon after the newspaper published the murders committed by Charles Schmid Jr. in 1966. The story displays numerous resembling details that match the real-life murder case involving “The Pied Piper” of Tucson Arizona. Many writers have written literary pieces on the story expressing inverse views in search for their own figurative meaning. While there are many interpretations of this story and they all include valid points, the

“I know everybody." These are some of the first words spoken by Arnold Friend in the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”. The impact of these words on the reader will vary based on how one approaches them. To some, they may be the soul of mundanity, with little to no significance or weight apart from some arrogance on the part of Arnold. To others, they may be indicative a deeper, much darker, reality within the story. Some critics have ventured to declare Arnold Friend as being the embodiment of Satan. Many before me have expounded upon the evidences as to Arnold’s demonic nature. With that in mind, however, I would like to approach this idea from a different perspective. Are there any truths apparent regarding Arnold when one reads between the lines, assesses the main characters’ psychological makeup, or breaks down their motivations? Let us find out.

Joyce Carol Oates wrote “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” in 1966. This was written to be for all the teenagers that think they know best. Connie is a self- absorbed teenager that is extremely aware of her beauty, and uses this to her advantage with different characters throughout the story. Her conflict with her mother and sister because of the self-assurance and arrogance leads to her demise. She gets herself into trouble by disobeying her parents and going out to places she should not be going to. She finds Friend, the antagonist, which lures “little ol” Connie with his good looks and his hot ride. One day he shows up to her house, uninvited, and this sets off the climax and resolution of the

Joyce Carol Oates is the Author of the psychologically thrilling short story, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? The story is set in an unspecified suburban town in the 1960’s. The main character Connie is a 15 year old girl stuck between adolescence and womanhood. Connie lives her life like most teenage girls do with boys, friends, music and looks as her main priorities. She has a bad relationship with her mother who wants her to be more like her older sister.

Joyce Carol Oates’s Where are you going, where have you been? is a post-modernist story. The primary theme is childhood versus adulthood. The story explores Connie’s, the main character’s, ambivalence about adulthood.

In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, the focus is on Connie: a young, impressionable, and insecure girl who is not certain where her place is in the world. At first glance, the story seems like any other in which a teenage girl struggles to come to terms with who she is and where she fits in. Yet, it takes a dark twist when Connie meets a seemingly charming stranger who obviously makes Connie uncomfortable when he reveals his true nature. The revelation that the stranger is actually an older man is both disturbing and unsettling, especially since he is forceful and demanding with Connie as soon as she starts to show signs of discomfort. Although this story starts off as an innocent tale of the tribulations of

Throughout “where are you going, where have you been” Joyce Carol Oates uses a chilling group of strands to reflect the parallelism to religion. By allowing Connie, a young naïve girl, to be led by false idols into such a nightmarish situation, the story expresses just how easy it is to cross the line of good versus evil.

Where Are You Going And Where Have You Been? In Joyce Carol Oates short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” there is a reoccurring theme. The theme is the conflict between fantasy and reality.

In the short stories “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People,” Flannery O’Connor writes about violence. The violence in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” surprises the reader because it is unexpected. Flannery O’Connor lulls the reader into a false sense of security and then pulls the rug out from under you at the end of the story. The violence is found within the character “The Misfit” and in his murderous actions. The violence in “Good Country People” is found within the character Hulga Hopewell and her hostility toward her mother, religion, and herself. Flannery O’Connor uses violence to criticize the hypocrisy of certain ideas and accepted cultural and religious norms. Textual evidence is necessary in this essay to prove the idea that Flannery O’Connor uses violence in these two stories to criticize the hypocrisy in the characters.

Questioning the world as observers and contemplating what constitutes a moral code versus following the norm play a major role in self growth. The frustrating contradictions of one’s self-aware mind begins to unwind into its own understanding of what’s real and the illusion. Illusions can be underlined with beliefs, faith and perception of someone’s own experiences and mistakes. The Mistakes that are made throughout a lifetime are essential to understanding between right and wrong. They give Justice and the injustice actions the unclear and incoherent meaning of good from evil. Revelations made through learning from mistakes sometimes can come in the most inopportune times. After reading the story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” Flannery O’Conner gives a taste of the hypocrisy and selfishness of what the subconscious part of humanity can be. The lifeless taste of evil “The Misfit” twisted with the rudimentary philosophical good of the “grandmother” foreshadows humanity as a whole and independently. The story shows us the problematic mechanics in belief and faith with the blunt truth being as evil as it can be, due to lack of understanding of ones’ self. The grandmother is projected as a symbol of conscious good with the intentional norm humanity strives for. Making her position throughout the story full of wisdom and righteousness through her illusion of what it means to be a lady. Only through a life threating experience with the