Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Oates

by evil and sin. Arnold Friend first attempts to coax Connie out of her house for a joyride by

The dramatic irony of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” conveys the tone of warning about temptation. Connie’s situation is that she does not feel appreciated at home and uses her looks and actions to get attention and appreciation from boys even if it is short-term. She is self-conscious about her looks and is constantly worried about how other people perceive her. Friend’s fantasy is that Connie will willingly go with him and be his “lover” (605) even before he officially met her. The reality of the situation is that she does not want to go with this strange man, but is being forced into it because of her fear, which makes her weak and submissive.

Studies show that the national average for an adolescent’s first sexual intercourse encounter is seventeen years old. Despite this number being very close to the average age in other industrialized countries, the United States holds a higher percentage of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease (STD) contraction than those countries (Harper et al, 2010, p. 125). It’s becoming evident that while a majority of the nation’s youth is sexually active, they are not doing so with the appropriate knowledge to keep themselves and others healthy.

The main conflict Connie faces in the story is Arnold Friend himself, a satanic figure preying on the young and naive. Initially Friend seems desirable to Connie, he seems like a suave mature figure, from afar, but as he draws closer to her Connie begins to see his flaws and what lies

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” is a popular short story written by Joyce Carol Oates, a well-known American writer born in 1938 who is well-known for her literary works in various genres (“Joyce Carol Oates”). In her short story, Oates depicts Connie, a self-centered teenager, being pursued by a mysterious and potentially dangerous individual who claims to be named Arnold Friend. At the end of the work, Arnold finally convinces Connie to allow herself to be abducted by him and his friend which could lead to Connie’s death. Throughout Oates’ piece, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” hidden intent is continually observed, resulting from the mentions of Arnold Friend’s mirrored sunglasses and his mask-like makeup, which both symbolize masks.

Throughout many cultures, age has been seen as a determinate factor of maturity. And with this maturity, comes power. This belief is clearly defined in Joyce Carol Oates’ short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”. In this story, the main character, Connie, struggles to reach maturity. Wielding her sexuality in hand, Connie charges into the battle for power, leaving her vulnerable to Arnold Friend’s temptation. Through the use of a symbolic figure, Arnold Friend, who represents the devil, Oates is able to manifest the power struggle between youth and maturity and how Connie strives to obtain the power that comes with maturity.

When the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have you Been?” written by Joyce Carol Oates was first published, there were many controversies to the theories and interpretations regarding the story. According to the author Oates, the inspiration of the story was based on “the tale of Charles Schmid, a twenty-three-old from Tucson who cruised teenage hangouts, picking up girls for rides in his gold convertible. Eventually, he murdered three of them, while other teenagers served as accomplices” (Coleman et al. 211). With knowing such fact of where the author got her inspiration, there is a clear understand to why many critics have suggested that the antagonist in the story, Arnold Friend, represents: feminist allegory, fear of the adult world, rebellion against the conformity, and symbolism of monster or even Satan.

Suddenly her house and kitchen looked like a different place. She tried to call out for help, even tried to call someone on the phone, but Arnold Friend would not let her. As soon as she picked up the phone she felt like Arnold Friend was stabbing her, even though he was standing outside for he promised he would not come inside unless she called someone. This eerie part of the story shows that Arnold Friend is a demonic figure by him just being inside possibly hurting Connie all while standing outside. He threatened her saying that he could hurt her family, or burn her house down which could have meant that he would bring them all to Hell.

His gold convertible connects to the teenagers and helps him become more visible by the younger generation. Arnold Friend uses his car to get attention and Connie thinks exactly what he wants the girls to think: “It was a boy with shaggy black hair, in a convertible jalopy painted gold” (Oates 326). This shows that his car really does help him gain attention. On his gold jalopy there is a secret numerical code which reads “33, 19, 17” (Oates 327). This can translate to various explanations. Three plus three equals six, an upside down nine represents a six, and seven minus one equals six as well. When the numeral six is used three times, it reads as 666, and that represents the devil, and this points to another sign that Arnold Friend could be the devil. As Arnold Friend is older than Connie and the rest of the teenagers, 33 19 17 could mean that he is thirty-three and his victims are around the ages of nineteen and seventeen. These two numbers show that his age in choice of victims is decreasing by two; therefore, his next victim will be 15, and that is the age of Connie. This shows that he is looking to victimize younger girls. Another way it can be translated is if you add up all the numbers, it adds up to sixty-nine. This number is known as a sexual reference. In the 1970’s the Sexual Revolution began to arise, and Oates is trying to send the message to take precaution

In Joyce Carol Oates's short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, the main character, Connie fills her life with bad choices; one of her choices and her endless vanity leads to her death. Connie fills her life with many bad influences and sneaks out late to hang out with older boys. Connies was confronted by a man named Arnold Fiend one night at the restaurant and he said “Gonna get you, baby.” He comes back into her life and seems to be very suspicious, he seems to know a little too much about Connie, more than he should know. Connie is sucked into his trap and is dragged into what becomes her certain death.

We all have been there. After a long days work, all we are thinking about is getting home. As you head towards your car, you notice the darkness around you and suddenly feel that you are not alone. Your pace increases and you begin to sweat mildly. If you could just get there, you’d be safe. Suddenly, you hear a noise and decide the best thing for you to do is ignore it. As you approach you car and unlock it, you sigh with relief that you’ve finally have made it. For many, our minds play tricks on us when we feel a moment of fear, however for others it may turn out to be their worst nightmare. In the story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, a young girl is forced to make a decision

He was telling her that he thought she was cute, and she said back to him, that she didn’t know who he was. He told her that his name was Arnold Friend, and he acted like she should know him. They kept going at each other, Arnold from the driveway and her from the house (behind the door). Arnold seemed to know everything about her family. He knew that they were out for the day and that they wouldn’t be back. He told her that he thought that she was cute and that she should come for a ride in the car. She told him flat out that she didn’t want to, but he told her that if she hadn’t done so that he was going to hurt her family. (Oates 367) He told her too that if she picked up the phone and called the police that he was going to come into the house, but otherwise he wouldn’t come in.Connie was terrified she didn't know what to do so she put the phone down “Cmon honey”. She put her hand to the door, and walked towards Arnold Friend. He said to her “My sweet little blue eyed girl.”(Connie had brown eyes)…Oates tells in the end “Connie had never seen so much land before and did not recognize it except to know that she was going to it.” (Oates 377) Arnold friend took Connie away……

Adolescence is a critical period of development in all areas of life including sexuality. Negligence towards this stage causes many sexual questions, conflicts and crisis to arise. The reports regarding teenage pregnancies and HIV/AIDS in Canada during the 1970’s serve as an illustration. From that moment on the growing number of sexually active youth was seen as a threat to sexual health in Canada. As a result, it encouraged school systems to institute a form of sexuality education to enhance awareness and knowledge around this issue. However, in today's society, individuals are divided by Restrictive and Permissive sexual ideologies. Proponents of Restrictive sexual ideology believe sexual behaviour should be controlled and limited to parents

Teenage sexual activity has sparked an outcry within the nation. With such activity comes a high price. Studies have shown that there has been a significant rise in the number of children with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), emotional and psychological problems, and out-of-wedlock childbearing. Sex has always been discussed publically by the media, television shows, music and occasionally by parents and teachers in educational context. Teens hear them, and as the saying goes, “monkey see, monkey do”, they are tempted to experiment with it. Therefore, it is important for every teenager to be aware of the outcome associated with premature-sex. If students are educated about the impact of

Controversy is rampant regarding the sexual education of grade school children. Some insist that it is prudent to educate children on this subject beginning as early as kindergarten. Others strongly disagree that earlier education has any effect at all on teen sex and pregnancy and, therefore, abstinence should be the focus. Lastly, we have those who believe advocating abstinence is appropriate, but agree that a more in depth sexual education is also necessary for those who are going to have sex anyway despite our best efforts to teach them otherwise.