Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

In the short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?," Joyce Carol Oates portrays the loss of innocence through acts of rebellion and urges of temptations. A fifteen-year-old girl named Connie becomes consumed with her appearance and boys, sneaking out and disregarding the commands given by her mother. On the contrary, her twenty-four-year-old sister June is seen as the perfect child: obedient, responsible, and clean. One summer night, when June was out with her girlfriends, Connie went out with her best friend, sneaking over to a drive-in restaurant where all the older kids hung out. There, Connie meets a boy named Eddie and goes on a date with him. During their date, however, Connie encounters this mysterious man with a gold convertible who wags his finger at her, claiming, "Gonna get you, baby." One Sunday, later that summer, Connie's family leaves her home alone as they attend a family barbecue. She relaxes to music, when suddenly, a car appears in her driveway. Startled by the noise, she goes to the kitchen and sees, through the screen door, that the same mysterious man with the gold convertible has arrived. The man, Arnold Friend, appears with a companion, Ellie Oscar, and asks Connie to get in the car with him. After realizing the danger she has gotten herself into, considering these two men are extremely old, Connie repeatedly refuses their orders as she grows dizzy with fear. Arnold becomes more and more frustrated with Connie, threatening her when she reaches for the phone. Connie disobeys Arnold and attempts to contact her family, angering Arnold to rape her. Connie is left helplessly mortified on her kitchen floor after her traumatizing experience. Realizing her troubled fate, Connie eventually gives in to Arnold, leaving with him.

1. They must have been familiar sights, walking around that shopping plaza in their shorts and flat ballerina slippers that always scuffed the sidewalk, with charm bracelets jingling on their thin wrists; they would lean together to whisper and laugh secretly if someone passed by who amused or interested them. Connie had long dark blond hair that drew anyone's eye to it, and she wore part of it pulled up on her head and puffed out and the rest of it she let fall down her back. She wore a pullover jersey blouse that looked one way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home. Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not her home: her walk that could be childlike and bobbing, or languid enough to make anyone think she was hearing music in her head, her mouth which was pale and smirking most of the time, but bright and pink on those evenings out, her laugh which was cynical and drawling at home -- "Ha, ha, very funny" -- but high-pitched and nervous anywhere else, like the jingling of the charms on her bracelet. (pgs. 592-593)
• This passage captures the youth and innocence of the two teenagers. Ironically, these young girls are going out and doing the complete opposite of what is expected of them. The detailed description of the girls' appearance is peculiar in length, indicating importance to the story as a whole.
2. ARNOLD FRIEND was written in tar-like black letters on the side, with a drawing of a round grinning face that reminded Connie of a pumpkin, except it wore sunglasses. [...] "Now these numbers are a secret code, honey," Arnold Friend explained. He read of the numbers 33, 19, 17 and raised his eyebrows at her to see what she thought of that, but she didn't think much of it. The left rear fender had been smashed and around it was written, on the gleaming gold background: DONE BY CRAZY WOMAN DRIVER. (pg. 596)
• The numbers and the phrases written in capital letters resemble some sort of significance. The numbers could potentially correlated to a biblical reference, or even to a sexual act (33 + 19 + 17 = 69). Arnold and Ellie constantly blared Rock 'N' Roll music, thus, if one removes the two Rs in ARNOLD FRIEND, one finds that Arnold Friend is truly "an old fiend."
3. He began to mark time with the music from Ellie's radio, tapping his fists lightly together. Connie looked away from his smile to the car, which was painted so bright it almost hurt her eyes to look at it. She looked at that name, ARNOLD FRIEND. And up at the front fender was an expression that was familiar -- MAN THE FLYING SAUCERS. It was an expression kids had used the year before, but didn't use this year. She looked at it for a while as if the words meant something to her that she did not yet know. (pg. 598)
• The capitalized writing on the gold convertible instill a sense of curiosity in the reader. As I have previously mentioned, when one closely analyzes the name ARNOLD FRIEND, one discovers his true alias, the Devil. Playing on the idea of Arnold Friend being the Devil, the names Lucifer and Satan can be spelled from the letters in MAN THE FLYING SAUCERS.