English Literature
The short story, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, written by Joyce Carol Oates, raises a number of social issues but none more so than the folly of youth – the arrogance of youth which causes us to make so many foolish mistakes as youngsters. The central protagonist, Connie is presented as being vain and self-obsessed and within the opening lines, Oates paints a picture of a young woman who embodies this youthful immaturity perfectly: “She was fifteen and she had a quick, nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was alright.” (Oates 24). Instantly, the reader is presented with an image of a young woman whose primary concern in life is her appearance. Her need to check the effect it has on other people is indicative of someone who lacks the confidence of maturity and who relies on the responses of others to boost her self-esteem. By establishing this character so fully in the opening lines of the story, Oates is attempting to instantly procure a sense of foreboding in her readers as she introduces the character and the potential plot simultaneously. An analysis of this short story reveals Oates’ design to demonstrate the innocence of youth and how it can present arrogance in the protagonist and problems with the antagonist – in this case, Connie’s desire to be ‘grown up’ and Arnold Friend’s view to taking advantage of this.
Young people and young women in particular, have a strong desire to ‘fit in’ with their peers and Connie is archetypal of this. To further this, Oates seems to write from Connie’s point of view: she adopts the immature reasoning of a teenager to circumvent Connie’s relationships with others. Her mother, in particular, receives this treatment: “Her mother had been pretty once too, if you could believe those old snapshots in the album, but now her looks were gone and that was why she was always after Connie.” (Oates 25). This serves to reinforce Connie’s immaturity further; her mother, who undoubtedly, only wants the best for her daughter is held under the same microscope that Connie holds herself and is defined purely by her appearance too. Oates writes through the eyes of Connie and, by doing this, she is presenting youthful arrogance at its finest; unable to see that her mother only wants the best for her, Connie dismisses her mother as being ‘past it’ and the mother’s praise of her other daughter who is described as being “plain and chunky” only reinforces this belief in Connie. This lack of respect for her mother and an inability to see past her own vanity is what causes Connie to run directly into trouble. Instead of listening to her mother and taking on board that guidance and wisdom, Connie wears revealing clothing and meets up with boys – revelling in their attentions towards her. It proves to be her downfall.
It is who the story is dedicated to that is truly ironic: Oates wrote the story for Bob Dylan. It has been commented on by literary critics that it was Dylan who presented an alternative to “the romantic premises and frantic strains” of the likes of Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley (Quirk 86). Dylan who inscribed that the “times they are a changing” was significant in as much as Oates presented a dual premise: Connie with the immaturity of youth and the body of an adult woman. Connie personifies youth which is a time of change and, therefore, Connie represents the ideas in Dylan’s music. Oates has used his name to hammer this point home.
When Connie meets Arnold Friend (who turns out to be the opposite of his namesake), she is instantly drawn to him. His car is gold and flashy and covered in cryptic writing: it is the epitome of allure. Arnold is just another in a long line of boys whom Connie has allowed to buy her food and drinks and she assumes that she is as in control as every other time. It is not until Arnold turns up at her house and the slowly-dawning realisation that he is not eighteen, as he had previously claimed that she begins to recognise that she is out of her depth. Arnold represents the oncoming panic of adulthood: she is inexperienced and does not know how to handle the situation which is juxtaposed with her belief that her good looks make her a woman. Connie’s youthful immaturity is flattered by Arnold’s interest and she doesn’t look any further than just a surface attraction and fails to recognise that he is a danger, and not just another cute boy.
Oates presents a young woman who is archetypal of teenagers: convinced of their own maturity but demonstrating nothing of the sort. Connie is pretty and popular with boys and, to her mind, this makes her a woman, but when Arnold enters her life, she is confronted by her own immaturity and lack of experience. Oates demonstrates the foolishness of youth as being the downfall of her protagonist and, therefore, raises the question of how safe young people actually are.
Oates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Ed. Elaine Showalter. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2002. 23 – 50. Print.
Quirk, Tom. “A Source for ‘Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been’. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Ed. Elaine Showalter. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2002. 81 – 90. Print.
