Customer Reviews

Joyce Carol Oates's "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?": A Study Guide from Gale's "Short Stories for Students" (Volume 01, Chapter 18)

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I just have a question, to the last reviewer, David...how do you KNOW that nothing bad happens to her and that in the end, she learns about the values of family, etc.


The last we hear, she knows that she has no defenses left, and steps out of the door. That her instincts are telling her she will never return.

That's IT. I heard there is a movie version, or some anaylsis that purports a good ending, but going strictly off the story, I don't see it.

Oates's "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is, to the untrained reader, about a young, flirtatious girl named Connie who gets a visit from a boy she's never met before while her family is at a barbecue, as Connie fixes her hair at home. He offers Connie a ride, and after displaying great knowledge about Connie's personal life, saying that "her family won't be coming back for a while," Connie is persuaded, almost forced, to join him. The story ends.

But, there is a whole other side to this story. One thing will always represent another. Oates's clever use of symbolism really makes this story quite a challenge to dissect completely, even to a trained reader. A strongly feminist story, I recommend it.

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is one of the creepiest stories I've ever read. Originally read it in college, in two different English classes. Long story short- girl's home alone, strange evil boy comes to her door. Another reviewer said "fortunately, nothing happens to her...". SO not true- the girl leaves with what is possibly a demon.

Adolescent girls probably since the dawn of time have been trying to elude the domineering gaze of their mothers in a time during their development where young females are creating their own identity and discovering who they really are and how they want to portray themselves to others. It's a juncture at which they are even more prone to seek independence and the discoveries of independence--a period when the teenage girl is (or is at least trying to) mature into womanhood. sometimes too quickly. Renowned feminist author Joyce Carol Oates very expertly tackles this issue in her 1965 short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

We're confronted with a young girl named Connie who just wants her own space, a girl who's tired of being told that she just doesn't measure up to her mother's high standard like her sister Jill; a girl who wants some romance--some love (or lust) in her life; an innocent naive girl who wants the freedom to meet and know boys but who is too young to understand that there are "good boys" and then there are "bad boys."

Connie goes out at night with her friend and meets a guy. They seem to have a good time together, but it's just one of those things where you have a good time and you wake up the next morning having forgotten much of what happened the night before. Life just goes on. At least that's the case with Connie. But she soon learns that that's not quite the case with the boy she met, named Arnold Friend. When her parents leave for a barbecue, she's left home all alone. She couldn't be happier. Finally she has her space, she has nobody talking down to her or criticizing her, she finally feels that spirit of freeom she so craves, which involves the lack of parental supervision and control. But in a very scary way she soon comes to know that this parental security is actually an important safety net, one that every adolescent needs. She comes to realize that independence has a price, and when a naive innocent unsuspecting teenager carelessly invites too much independence, it may turn out to be a dangerous thing.

As I say, Connie is alone in the house and the whole family is away--moreover, they're not expected to come back for a long while. Suddenly, Arnold Friend pulls up in front of her house with his shy music-listening friend. He calls for Connie to come out for a drive. Connie is quite started. She had not been expecting him. She seemingly can't even remember who he is. Arnold seems to know a lot about her, which naturally makes her uneasy given her ignorance of him. He keeps telling her to go for a ride in the car with him, but she refuses. After all, he's pretty much a stranger to her and he's actually quite a bit older than her, although he plays down his real age. The verbal exchange continues, and her anxiety and fear only grow as he peppers his insistent request with threats on her family and even her own life when it comes to telling her he can burn the house down over her head. She locks the door, but it's only a flimsy little screen door; she threatens to call the cops, but he threatens to break into the house if she does. The tension grows with every word, every gesture. Finally Connie loses it and there's no safety net to catch her. She's at the mercy of this obsessed psycho who only the night before came across as such a nice sweet studly type. She makes a feeble attempt to call the police, but it's no good. She's completely under his manipulative sway. She decides to face the consequences of her recklessness and leaves with Arnold rather than to test his threats. Fortunately nothing happens to her, and as a result, she learns the valuable lesson of being careful who you trust in life and what friends or male friends you make, and one is also convinced that by the end of the story, within her is born a new awareness of the meaning and value of family.

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"