Dominique CainCarterAP Literature 6B4 November 2014

Analysis of 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'In the beautifully, terrifying short story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?' the author, Joyce Carol Oates, blends in the realistic aspect of crime and horror with the religious aspects of temptation and damnation to portray a short story that conveys a deeper meaning than just the creepiness eeriness of Arnold Friend. Oates uses characterization, setting, symbolism, diction, theme, and much more to foreshadow to Connie's impending fate. The story is centered aroundon Connie; a futile, self-absorbed yet sympathetically appealing 15-year-old girl who bickers with her mother daily., to the point in which she wishes they were both dead. Oates stages Connie's family as irrelevant background characters, who's whose actions and words only provide relevance to the actual story. For instance, it's importance that Connie's mother often accuses Connie of being vain, and irresponsible unlike her sister, Jane - these conversations between Connie and her mother are important, however, her mother, Jane, and her father, who's a workaholic, aren't important to the storyline. To continue with plot, Connie spends her summer as pickingsummer picking up boys at the local restaurant, and one evening she captures the attention of a stranger in a gold convertible covered in cryptic, tension filled writing. When her family goes out to her aunt's barbeque, the stranger, Arnold Friend and Ellie, who she recognizes from the drive-in restaurant, pull up to her home. In a tale of turning events Connie is compelled to leave with him and his "sidekick" Ellie, the story ends, leaving Connie's fate ambiguous, yet evident. The title of the short story itself is so ambiguous yet it hints to a deeper meaning., which is very hard to find in many titles. By giving the title ambiguity the author, Oates, can hint to various thematic levels of the story. For example, 'where are you going...' can foreshadow to physical nature of Connie's adventure with Arnold Friend, in which the audience automatically infers as abduction, rape, or murder. Or it can hint to the overwhelming questions are her mother usually has for her. 'where Where have you been' can hint to Connie's nativity - physically speaking, within the context to the reader Connie's hasn't been anywhere else besides the local drive-in restaurant, yet she holds herself on a pestle., hence the vanity that is practically spilling from her pores. The meaning of the name 'Connie' is brave or strong-willed, however, in the short story, Connie is a complete rejection of her name. She indulges in the pleasure and vanity rather than dealing with the practical concerns of life, such as why does a stranger find her so intriguing. The problem with Connie, is one moment she appears to be the sweet victim, the next she's chasing down boys at a local drive-in, and the next she appears to be shaken my tempestuous feelings from fear to lust - the audience would naturally have to wonder she they even sympathize for her character. Connie's moods and actions seem to be labile, momentary, and effervescent as a substance coming from a champagne bottle. The fact thatThis could be why Oates tends to associateassociated her Connie's character with actions that come off as brooding, diaphanous, and impulsive, such as Connie's vanity, or her running in alley ways with boys. Though Connie's actions may push the audience away, her nature pulls the audience back in. Connie is ana dictionary representation the average 15-year-old who longs for the approval of those around her, and dives into the mysteriousness of the world - hence, her impending curiosity for Arnold Friend. It seems as if Oates foreshadowed to her choice of going with Arnold through her complex of being a teenager, if Connie had been older, maybe in her 20's or 40's, the story would have been a lot less believable, and the audience would not have sympathized for her character on the same level they do when she's so young. As the serpent once tempted Eve with the apple, Arnold Friend tempts Connie with the fate and instantaneous nature of adulthood. Connie's constantly shows her longing for wanting to be older than what she actually is. For instance, when Connie goes to the mall she puts on a different outfit then when she left, when she hangs out "where the older kids hung out", or when she notices a car pull into her drive way, she instantly checks her hair as her heart pounds, like she waiting for someone to show up to her door. Oates continues to give Connie the classic Eve complex, which only foreshadows to her impending doom. Analyzing Arnold, one would be a fool to not see the subtle hints that Oates give gives, representing to represent him as something he isn't. The snake in the Garden of Eden was extension of the devil himself, hence when man would see a serpent he would be reminded that it was the instrument by which he fell into sin - this could foreshadow Connie's demise, whenever Arnold Friend was present in the story she become closer and closer to her fate. Another example of Arnold Friend being something he isn't, is his hair - for instance, Connie's constantly notices his "shaggy", wild hair, she calls it "crazy as a wig", the audience then could infer that Arnold presentation is only a disguise.Arnold can be a representation of numerous different mysterious characters, however, the devil and the big bad wolf from 'Little Red Riding Hood', seem to be the most relatable. His possession over Connie seems to be longing, and realistic. In the children's tale 'Little Red Riding Hood' the wolf is the antagonist, and disguises himself to eat up grandma and eventually Red. In the short story Connie refers to Arnold trying to "gobble her up" and as if he could be secreting hiding something. Within the story she notices things that could only hint to his disguise, such as his eyes, eyelashes, and big white teeth which only seem to be "painted on" - yet Connie is still curious - hence, they the saying curiosity killed the cat. It constantly seems that every feature of his him seems to be ominous, if not absolutely terrifying - his slitted eyes "like chips of broken glass", or the. Even the fact that he is positioned atop his car rather than next to it, hence, the narrator states stating that Arnold Friend "slid" out of his car, rather than taking a normal step; this all hints to his serpent like ways. Oates points out to the audience this simple things that hold such a deep a deeper meaning to the audience, it's a wonder how Connie doesn't seem them as warning signs. Arnold Friend also has a fantastical element about as well - and not in a good way. His dark presence, vulgar actions, his imperfections, and magician like ways also hints to him being like a serpent - he just knows too much. From the barbeque, to her name, what she does at the local drive-in - it's all overwhelming for Connie., as well as the audience. Arnold Friend's actions, phrases, and presents provides a chance for the infer audience to infer that he is a predator, and ultimately this foreshadows Connie's impending doom. "Her name was Connie. She was fifteen [...]" Though the first sentence does give the reader an room to infer what the story is about, the reader can already infer that the protagonist, Connie, won't be making a rerun. However, when in the first paragraph Oates sets up the entire story, the reader gets the name, the age, and brief description of Connie, and instantly the reader audience can infer who Connie is, even without having any physically physical characteristics - which Oates doesn't present until the very end. In the first paragraph Oates also uses numerous wording that hints to the dark nature of the short story. Words like "shadowy", "gone", and "nervous" all hint to nefarious features of Connie as well as Arnold Friend. Different thematic levels can be explored with 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'. The theme of youthfulness seems to be a great place to explore, the illusory thoughts of youth seems to be blindly presented in the story as it clashes with the cruel world hurtfulness of maturity. The nature of manipulation can also be studied;, how Arnold seems to be what he is not, and how he uses words, and actions to ultimately 'capture' his damsel. So many of the themes foreshadow what could happen to Connie in the end.The audience can often find themselves screaming at Connie as if she was in a horror film, like that the girl who always goes down the dark hallway, or into the basement. Though there are numerous signs pointing to the obvious, impending doom seems to inevitably for find characters like Connie. Sympathetic levels can often be skewed when it comes to characters like Connie as well - she falls into the average self-absorbed yet sadly appealing youthful complex, yet she is so inhumanly stupid, Arnold Friend doesn't just become the predator to her but the catalyst for her death. This also brings up the problem with the story, it's too ambiguous. There are a lot of things left unsaid, as the reader, one often has to infer a lot. For instance, had Arnold been stalking Connie for numerous days, is he even real, is he going to rape her than kill her, or is he going to torture her and let her go. This horror elementsThese horror elements of the story are left causing the reader to feel like there is a missing part of the story, or as if something should have been said. Though Oates leaves plenty of ambiguity, 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?' is a perfectly woven story that has numerous elements that foreshadow Connie's impending doom. Oates plays with diction, and imagery, as well as blending characterization with setting which adds a horror element to the story. All of these elements combine leave the reader pinned to the edge of their seat, screaming for Connie to call the police.