Where
Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
Where are you
going, where have you been? is a short story by
Joyce Carol Oates that has always stood out for its ambiguity. It is a story
that delves into the life of a typical teenager, in the person of Connie.
Connie is a fifteen-year-old girl in high school, and she is on summer holiday.
She lives with her family – her sister June who is twenty-four years old, her
mother who she always has a conflict with, and her father who is mostly silent
and reads the newspaper during dinner (Oates, pg. 1). The title of this story
is questioning Connie’s direction in life. Where is she headed to, and where is
she coming from? Is Connie cognizant of her past, present, and future or does
she just exist; riding the wave of life as it comes? The story by Oates takes
us through Connie’s life trying to answer the questions in a riveting and
intricate manner. Connie is a contemporary teenager going through adolescence.
As expected of that stage of development, she views life through unrealistic
lenses. She lives her life fantasizing about passion and love, love that comes
because she is pretty and attractive. Connie believes she is irresistible and
wiser, qualities that make her a fine flirt (Oates, pg. 1). Connie lives her
life in the present and does not care about anything else. Only her life
matters and anyone who tries to disregard her becomes her enemy, like her
mother who is against her incessant grooming (Oates, pg. 1). This essay seeks
to interpret the ending of this story, which is quite vague.
It is important to understand the events and situations that
lead to the ending of Oates’ story. Before looking at its ending, the ending of
the story largely depends on what Oates was trying to pass across. Connie’s
family is dysfunctional. Her mother is always complaining about Connie and her
habit of looking herself in the mirror most of the time as time wasting (Beckenbauer 45).
She calls her sister to complain about the other sister “then the other called
up, and the two of them complained about the third one” (Oates, pg. 2). Her
mother commended her sister June but seemed to disapprove Connie. June was
praised for her cooking skills, diligence and the fact that she saved some
money. Connie’s mother confronts her, “Why don’t you keep your room clean like
your sister? How’ve you got your hair fixed? You don’t see your sister using
that junk” (Oates, pg. 2). However,
Connie thinks that her mother likes her more than she likes her sister June
because she is prettier (Oates 2). She was alluring indeed. Oates describes her
as having long, dark, blond hair that lures many to it (Oates, pg. 2). June is
a secretary in the high school where Connie goes. She is plump and plain. Their
father spends most of his time at work, and all he wants when he gets home is
an evening meal, a newspaper and then sleep. He is not the talkative type and
seems to care not about the family. Connie does not like criticism and her
mother gets on her nerves to the extent of her wishing death on her mother,
then herself. She tells her friends that her mother makes her want to throw up
sometimes (Oates, pg. 1). On one Sunday when the family goes to her aunt’s
place for a barbecue, Connie prefers to stay alone at home rather than spend
time together with family.
Connie is portrayed as craving freedom. She is an
adolescence who wants to do whatever she wants in her own way without questions
from her mother or anyone else. As a result, she often lies to her mother. One
of Connie’s best friend’s father drove them to the shopping plaza to browse the
store, watch a film and when he returned to pick them up, he never cared to
inquire what they had been up to. Sometimes, Connie and her friend did not
watch a movie as they were supposed to; they crossed the highway and dashed to
a drive-in restaurant, a place teeming with older youngsters. This was so that
they could flirt with the boys. Connie’s confidence emanates from her beauty,
and she feels that gives her the power to ignore some boys and go after others
at the restaurant. Though Connie struggles to acquire independence, she depends
on others such as her friend’s father. She is young and maturing but still has
a long way to go to be independent (Dermot).
Oates elucidates that Connie has two sides to her. Her
dressing and adornment were done differently depending on whether she was at
home or outside the home. Oates describes her: “...her walk, which 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 these evenings out” (Oates). Her demeanor outside the home
is only known to her but not her family. She would not want her family privy to
her secret because they would probably get in her way. She prefers to go
shopping and watching movies or remaining at home alone so she can wash her
hair and let it dry in the sun. She sits outside reveling in her love
fantasies. She cares so much about her appearance that when she hears a car
approaching, she has to tend to it promptly.
The night that Connie and her friend visit the restaurant
triggers an event that majorly leads to the end of Oates’ story. Connie meets a
boy, Eddie, and decides to hang out with him in his car. Connie spots another
boy grinning at her and standing next to a gold-colored convertible car. The
boy is unkempt. The boy giggles and says he is going to get her, endearingly
(Oates). One Sunday when Connie’s parents and sister go to her aunt’s place,
she basks in the sun then returns to the house to listen to music on the
radio. Soon she hears a car approaching
the house. She looks through the window only to see that it is the car she had
seen at the parking spot of the drive-in restaurant (Gale 32).
The man’s name is written on the side of the car. He is Arnold Friend.
Accompanying him is Ellie, his pal. A friend asks Connie to leave the house and
get in the car for a ride, but Connie refuses saying she does not even know him
(Oates, pg. 2). In his effort to convince her to join him for a ride, Friend
tells her that Ellie has a radio. Ellie’s radio is playing the same music she
had been listening to in the house and is tuned to the same program hosted by
Bobby King. Connie appears enchanted by Friend as they spend a lot of time
together (Beckenbauer 124). She remains at the
doorway to the house having a back and forth exchange with Friend. He shows her a secret code, the numbers 33,
19 and 17 painted on the car. Friend mentions her by her name, and she
questions how he knows her name. He claims to know everything about her and her
family and even a neighbor who had died some time back. This worries Connie
awfully.
Connie feels things are getting out of hand and closes the
screen door, standing inside the house. Friend does not look the age he claims
to be. She has a dizzying feeling when Ellie looks at her. She insists that they
should leave. Friend orders her to step outside the house, but she says she has
things to do (Oates, pg. 5). He annoys her by telling her that he is her lover
and would show her what that means. She threatens to call the police. Ellie is
also intimidating her, asking if he should pull out the telephone so that she
cannot call anyone. The friend suggests that he might have had a role in the
death of a neighbor of Connie’s and threatens to hurt Connie’s family if she
does not obey him. When she picks up the telephone to call the police, she
hears a roaring voice. She is frail and tries screaming. She cries, calling for
her mother. All this is sinister. The friend has some power that is not typical
of a human being, like being able to see Connie’s family at a barbecue. He
resembles an evil figure, like a demon. His appearance is strange, including
his walking style (Dermot). Strangely, he prevents Connie from calling the
police. This is by weakening her and making her hear an eerie voice in the
phone. He is able to command her using threats. She has no control over her
actions now.
The struggle between Connie and Arnold Friend is futile for
her. In spite of her bids to make him and Elli leave, they remain outside the
house. The initial connection that Connie felt towards Friend dissipates into
fear and helplessness. She has no means by which to deal with him. She can do
nothing to save herself. Connie’s fantasies and desire for freedom seem to
collapse at this moment (Dermot). Her innocence is about to be taken by a rogue
stranger, and she is not prepared for this reality. This incident leads to
ambiguity in this story. Oates does not tell what befell Connie. Eventually,
Connie yields to Friend and leaves the house to enter the car. She is not
herself, and she is under the control of a stranger.
Connie did not leave the house on her own free will. Oakes
writes, “She thought for the first time in her life that it was nothing that
was hers, that belonged to her, but just...living thing inside this body that
wasn’t really hers either” (Oates, pg. 6). She heeds Friend’s commands without
question and devoid of any resistance. This is also seen in the book, Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories
by Oats as she fails to questions the Friend’s orders. His orders sound like an
invocation (Oates, pg. 6). She watches herself opening the door and walking
into the stranger’s shy embrace. She catches a glimpse of expanse land behind
Friend. She knows she is going to that land. This hints that Connie is under a
mysterious control. She also knows that doing what she is asked is an act to
save her family from being hurt by Friend. Connie is in danger. It is highly
probable that she could be killed or even raped by Friend who called himself
her lover, to her indignation (Dobbins). Connie appears to have accepted her
fate. Her idea that her sexual attraction is what is important comes crashing
down; she now has to play a mature role in saving her family. She is defeated
and vulnerable.
Works Cited
Beckenbauer,
Ann-Kathrin. An Analysis of Joyce Carol Oates' Short Story 'Where Are
You Going, Where Have You Been?’, 2016.
Dermot. Where Are
You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates. 22 July 2014. Web.
11 December 2018. <http://sittingbee.com/where-are-you-going-where-have-you-been-joyce-carol-oates/>.
Dobbins, Michael. Dynamic and Disturbing: Dealing With
Rape Culture Through Literature. 20 November 2014. 11 December 2018.
<http://www.uatrav.com/the_companion/article_95f5cb16-6ec0-11e4-8e76-1f621088822e.html>.
Gale, Cengage L. Study
Guide for Joyce Carol Oates's "Where Are You Going, Where Have You
Been?". Detroit: Gale, Cengage Learning, 2016.
Oates, Joyce C. Lovely,
Dark, Deep: Stories. New York: Ecco, 2014.
Oates, Joyce Carol. "Joyce Carol Oates." n.d. brainstorm-services. Document. 11
December 2018. <brainstorm-services.com/wcu-2005/pdf/oates.pdf>.
No comments:
Post a Comment