Bellesiles 1

Jeff Bellesiles

Genest

Short Stories

20 March 2009

Where are you Going, Where have you been

When talking about prolific writers in America since the 1960s, one name comes up in

every discussion: Joyce Carol Oates. Born to a rural working-class family in 1938, she grew up in

the small town of Millersport, New York, which Oates said .was hardly a community, it was a

farm and another farm, and a creek.” She attended the same one-room schoolhouse as her

mother, and was generally happy with her family. Oates described her family as “a happy,

close-knit and unextraordinary family for our time, place and economic status.” (Edemariam)

As a child, Oates became very interested in writing after receiving Alice’s Adventures in

Wonderland as a gift from her grandmother. She remembers this novel:

“…the great treasure of my childhood, and the most profound literary influence

of my life. This was love at first sight!” (Edemariam)

Moving into her teens, Oates became enveloped in the works of such authors as

Thoreau, Hemingway, and Faulkner, whose works inspired Oates to further her literary talent.

Her grandmother, who was the initial person to spark this desire to write, enabled her to

further it with the gift of a typewriter at 14. With this gift, she became totally immersed in her

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writing, contributing to the school newspaper, and eventually becoming the first in her family

to graduate high school in 1956. (Bender)

Oates then moved on to Syracuse University, which she found “a very exciting place

academically and intellectually.” (Edemariam) She spent much of her time there furthering

herself by .writing novel after novel and always throwing them out when I completed them.”

She became engrossed in the works of D.H. Lawrence and Kafka, and graduated as

valedictorian of her class in 1960.

Since her graduation, Oates has become one of the most astonishingly prolific writers of

our time. Oates published her first novel in 1964, With Shuddering Fall. Her next story is

regarded as her most well-known, Where are you Going, Where have you been. Published in

1966, it has been received very well and has even been the basis of a movie, Smooth Talk

released in 1985, though the movie had a dramatically altered ending. Since 1964, she has

published well over 100 pieces of literary work, including almost 40 novels, publishing at least

one a year since 1993. Oates has received many awards, starting with her novel them for which

she received the national book award in 1970. For more than 25 years Oates has been a

rumored favorite to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. (Kich)

While Joyce Carol Oates is one of the most prolific writers of our time, she has also

managed to lead an impressive teaching career. She began teaching at the University of Detroit

in 1962, working there until 1968, when the combination of the Detroit race riots, the Vietnam

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War and a job offering enticed her to move to Canada. After 10 years in Canada, in 1978, she

returned to the US to take a job teaching at Princeton. (Dirda)

Throughout her enormous body of work, there are a few recurring themes. Many of her

works have an underlying gothic tone, containing elements of darker themes such as seduction,

violence, rape, fear of the unknown and class tensions. Although she has an impressively large

corpus of works, they almost all focus on a few themes; most notably the effect violence has on

the human psyche. She also tends to leave the end of her stories open-ended, leaving the

reader to decide on an appropriate ending themselves. This literary technique allows her

stories to be read in many different ways and opens the door for much more symbolism than a

conventional ending would allow. (Dirda)

Where are you going, Where have you been is an intriguing short story written by Joyce

Carol Oates, it was her second major published story, and probably her most well-known. The

story is centered on a 15 year old girl named Connie. She is portrayed as a fairly ordinary

teenager. She searches for an identity that fits her, challenging her parents, especially her

mother, and pushing the limit on everything she does. One night, she is out with some of her

friends at a drive in restaurant when she catches the eye of a boy sitting in a gold jalopy in front

of the drive in. Their eyes connect for only a second, then Connie leaves and doesn’t see him

for the rest of the night.

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Days later, her parents and particularly bland sister go off to her aunt’s barbeque,

leaving Connie home alone. After washing her hair, Connie hears a car roll up the driveway. She

looks out and sees the gold jalopy repainted with a sloppy red paint job, with what appears to

be 2 teenagers inside. The driver steps out and introduces himself as Arnold Friendly, the boy

that she had seen briefly the night before, and he starts asking her to come for a ride. At first

she refuses, and she begins to notice several strange things about Friendly. First she realizes

that he really isn’t 18 like he says he is, but closer to 30. His “young” friend looks to be in his

40s. A cold terror slowly grips Connie. As they talk more, Friendly becomes more hostile, saying

that he knows all about her and her family, and telling her that she is his lover she just doesn’t

know it yet. Connie notices that he walks like he stuffed his shoes with something to make him

seem taller, and he places his sunglasses on his head as if he were wearing a wig. Connie

attempts to stand up to him by threatening to call the police, but Arnold says that if she

touches the phone he will come in the house after her, and no flimsy screen door will keep him

from her. He also describes in vivid detail how a simple fire would cause her to “run into my

arms.” After more threats and strange statements by Friendly, Connie has finally had enough,

and runs inside to call the police, but when she picks up the phone, she freezes in terror. At this

climatic moment, everything seems to fade out for Connie, and she collapses onto the floor.

When she has recovered, Friendly is at the door, he calmly tells her to put the phone back.

Without saying a word, Connie replaces the phone and slowly stands up. Friendly then tells her

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to come outside and come for a ride in the car with him, and Connie resignedly agrees. The

story ends with Connie gazing out of the doorway, wondering about her future, and what it

could possibly hold.

The characters in the story are mostly static, each of them only there briefly, and their

personalities never really elaborated upon. First is fifteen-year-old Connie, struggling to find her

real identity, and in the process exhibiting the classic behaviors of a girl her age. She displays

the erratic, often confusing behavior associated with a young girl making the transition to

womanhood. She rebels against her parents, but often in a very passive aggressive way,

establishing two very distinct personalities: one for around her family, and one for when she is

out with her friends. Connie is also hopelessly romantic, influenced mostly by the lyrics of

popular songs. But this romanticism doesn’t really express itself in her boyfriends, who

“dissolved into a single face that was not even a face but an idea.”

Arnold Friend, built up through indirect characterization, undertakes many different

identities throughout the story. He is first introduced as a boy “with shaggy black hair, in a

convertible jalopy painted gold.” However, as both Connie and the reader soon learn, he is

really much older, and uses psychological manipulation to abduct girls like Connie. He uses the

romantic lyrics of popular songs to make Connie feel more comfortable, but blends forceful

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commands in his speech to help appeal to her. He is slowly broken down to be a man of at least

30 using makeup and props to help make himself appear more appealing to Connie.

Arnold brings with him a friend, Ellie, whose personality also is seen differently

throughout the story. At first, Ellie seems to be a harmless follower of Arnold, but his small,

menacing comments change the way the reader views him drastically. He is often very direct in

confirming Connie’s nagging fears, where Arnold is much more indirect. First he offers to “pull

the phone” to prevent Connie from calling for help, and then pulls out a weapon, which Arnold

hastily scolds him for and tells him to put away. By the end, Ellie is viewed as just as hostile as

Arnold, mirroring the change in perception of Arnold’s personality as well.

Connie’s sister, June, plays the opposite of Connie. Where Connie is beautiful and eye-

catching, June is “plain and chunky.” She also lacks the rebellious nature that drives Connie.

Connie views herself as superior to her sister because of her beauty.

Joyce Carol Oates’ Where are you Going, Where have you been is famous among Oates’

work for its vast symbolism and the interpretation of its many themes. However, many, if not

all of the themes seem to relate to identity and the search for self. Connie is a perfect example

of someone who is struggling to really understand his or her own true identity. She attempts to

build an image for herself based on how people see her. Connie spends a large amount of

energy maintaining two very separate identities: one for at home, and one for everywhere else.

Her personality, however, doesn’t seem to fit into either of these identities that she has

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created. She builds up her identity outside of the house based on classic romanticism. She uses

the lyrics of popular songs to help dictate how she wants other people to see her, and this is

what makes her so vulnerable to Arnold Friend. While Connie seems to do this almost

subconsciously, Arnold is very aware of how much effect music has on kids her age. He sets up

a personality just for people Connie’s age to see, and bases it on well-liked trends such as the

lyrics of popular songs, and uses this personality to match the one that Connie had set up. He

even tries to play this charade off when Connie starts becoming suspicious of his age, giving

excuses to convince her that he is her age.

Arnold’s personality is an enigma. He works very hard to appear young and fashionable,

as well as attempting to make Connie feel secure around him. He dresses in the current trends,

and imitates the mannerisms of any boy Connie’s age to make himself seem more normal to

her. However, she notices several times that he is actually taking many of his words directly

from popular song lyrics from a year ago, again attempting to appeal to Connie’s romantic side.

He does slip up a few times, mentioning things that went out of style over a year ago, and this

slip-up draws suspicion from Connie. This “mask” of an identity that he has created he uses to

get near to Connie, using her own weakness for the romanticism of popular songs against her.

Near the end he even says “My sweet blue-eyed girl…” which is an interesting statement in two

ways: first because of the obvious reference to the popular song with almost the same title, and

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also the fact that Connie actually has brown eyes confirms the suspicion that he using the lyrics

of songs to sound romantic.

Neither Connie nor Friend have a real sense of their identity, each uses their outward

appearance and other peoples’ opinions toward them to create a mask that they can put up to

hide their true emotions from those around them. However, as his mannerisms and behavior

becomes more disconcerting to Connie, the more threatening he becomes, letting his true

personality break through. And as she comes to realize what is really going on, Connie seems to

finally come to an understanding of what her identity really is.

By the end of the story, the reader can really get a sense of the true identity of both

characters. Arnold Friend is far past trying to make Connie feel comfortable, he threatens both

Connie and her family as she realizes how serious the situation really is. Connie, on the other

hand, realizes that her beauty and outward appearance aren’t everything, and that they don’t

elevate her above everyone. She realizes that for the first time in her life, she doesn’t feel like

she has complete control over her own life. (Oates)

Where are you Going, Where have you been is famous among Joyce Carol Oates’ stories

for the amazing amount of symbolism that can be found. One of the more prominent symbols

is that of Arnold Friend. He is often thought to represent the devil; a temptation for Connie that

she slowly comes to realize is very evil. Friend is symbolic of a temptation that Connie faces. At

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first, Friend seems to be exactly the kind of person Connie hangs out with, making her feel

comfortable around him. However, Connie eventually sees through his guise and sees him for

the wicked man he really is.

Another major symbol in the story is that of Music. There is music woven through every

scene in the story. At first, it is assumed that this is just part of the setting, and is just meant to

set the mood. But looking back at each scene and how the events of each one relates to the

music, it becomes clear that it is there for much more than setting. When Arnold Friend first

pulls up, he uses the music to get Connie to talk to him, and throughout the conversation uses

lines straight out of popular songs to try to appeal to her. Also, at the climax, it can be noted

that the music suddenly stops, which points to the importance of the scene.

Another interesting symbol is the choice of setting of the suburbs where Connie lives.

This setting is interestingly common among horror stories, and Oates uses it ironically, pointing

out our assumptions that suburbs are much safer than other neighborhoods. The assumption

that the suburbs are a secure place where only good things happen is dropped, and often this

story can even lead to the reader reevaluating what they assume is safe.

Lastly, the entire story can be viewed as symbolic. It could be shown to symbolize life,

and how as we grow older we eventually lose the innocence and sense of control that we

believed to be undeniably ours. Arnold Friend represents the sin of the outside world, and how

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no matter how prepared we are, the outside world is all too out of our control to handle.

Starting with promises of a bright future, we are all eventually taken over by the outside world.

Where are you Going, Where have you been is an interesting story in that it can be read

and taken in many, many different ways. After reading through it several times, I gave it to a

number of different people to read, and each of them had a completely unique response to the

story. Some read it as literal; a graphic story with frightening gothic undertones, but with a

moral at the end that is interpreted differently by each reader. Others, like myself, read it first

as a literal story, and then as a symbolic one. Reading through it a second time in a symbolic

manner yielded many different interpretations. The story can be overlaid on many different

morals or lessons and can be used to help accentuate a point, most of these points having

something to do with good vs. evil.

In the end, the story boils down to a basic Good Vs Evil battle, with the classic cunning

of evil shown contrasting to the innocence of good. I found the story very well written, with a

very interesting ending that keeps anyone from reading the story just once. The open-ended

ending leaves the story open to an unlimited number of interpretations based on how the

reader thinks the story will end. Overall, the use of perspective added to the already growing

suspension resulting in a story that sticks with you, and that you have to read many times

before you feel satisfied.

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Works Cited

“Author Information: Joyce Carol Oates.” Internet Book List. 20 Mar. 2009

<http://www.iblist.com/author1054.htm>.

Bender, Eileen T. “Joyce Carol Oates.” Cengage . com . Ed. Paul Lauter. Indiana University. 20

Mar. 2009

<http://college.cengage.com/english/lauter/heath/4e/students/author_pages/

contemporary/oates_jo.html>.

Dirda, Michael. “The Wand of the Enchanter.” The New York Review of Books 20 Dec. 2007. 20

Mar. 2009 <http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=20900>.

Edemariam, Aida. “The new Monroe doctrine.” The Guardian 4 Sept. 2004. 20 Mar. 2009

<http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2004/sep/04/featuresreviews.guardianreview14>.

“Joyce Carol Oates.” Wikipedia , the free encyclopedia . 20 Mar. 2009

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_Carol_Oates>.

Kick, Martin. “Joyce Carol Oates.” Literary Encyclopedia. 28 Feb. 2003. Wright State University.

20 Mar. 2009 <http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4943>.

Oates, Joyce Carol. “ Where are you going , where have you been? ” New Brunswick, N.J:

Rutgers UP, 1994.

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Truman, Cheryl. “Author Joyce Carol Oates is always at her finest.” Kentucky . com Homepage .

20 Mar. 2009 <http://www.kentucky.com/692/story/515390.html>.

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?: Information.” Answers . com - Online

Dictionary , Encyclopedia and much more . 20 Mar. 2009

<http://www.answers.com/topic/where-are-you-going-where-have-you-been-

story#Notes_on_Short_Stories>.