Carol Oates 'Short Story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'

Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” can be considered a mixture between modern fairy-tale and traditional fairy-tale. Its theme, tone and tragic ending can be compared to the classical fairy-tales of history while its details of a contemporary life are relevant in modern day fairy-tales. Many traditional fairy-tales are composed of dark, threatening themes that contain some sort of moral lesson and/or depict the ancient struggle between good and evil; such elements are evident in Hans Christian Andersen’s original tale of The Little Mermaid as well as in the tale of The Pied Piper of Hamelin in which gave inspiration to Joyce Oates short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”. Modern fairy-tales

however, consist of contemporary elements and portray a more heartfelt magical story and “happily ever after” ending. Many Walt Disney stories and movies, such as the classic yet modern story of Cinderella and the mythical tale of Little Red Riding Hood, depict the evolved modern day fairy-tales in which the protagonist character is rewarded with a happy ending. Despite its clear fairy-tale allusions and its horrid ending, Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” comprises of various elements that fit into the framework of modern fairy-tales.
The story begins with a very descriptive introduction of Connie, the story’s main character. She is described to resemble the well-known fairytale character Cinderella while June, Connie’s “simple” older sister who lacks personality, is portrayed by Connie’s mother to be the “good” daughter. Like Cinderella, Connie is constantly tormented by her mother and scolded for her beauty. “‘Stop gawking at yourself, who are you? You think you’re so pretty?’” (Oates 551). June on the other hand is always praised by Connie’s mother and her mother’s sisters, “June did this, June did that, she saved money and helped clean the house and cooked and Connie couldn’t do a thing, her mind was all filled with trashy daydreams” (Oates 551). As an escape from her life full of hatred, Connie resorts to daydreaming, “thinking, dreaming, about the boys she met” (Oates 553). Connie’s dreamy escape, like Cinderella’s, promises pleasurable solutions to her problems. But unlike Cinderella’s happy ending Connie’s adventurous daydreams end up bringing unfortunate tensions upon her, her murder. Joyce Carol Oates’ take on the outcome of Connie’s daydreams is a correlation to traditional fairy-tales, where the majority of the main characters end up deceased and the moral of the story is validated by their death. The allusions to the modern tale of Cinderella however demonstrate how Joyce Carol Oates’ short story encompasses modern day fairy-tale elements that, as described by the Washington Post critic Susan Woods, “manifest in contemporary American experience” (550).
The magical fairytale-like elements captured in Joyce Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” become apparent when Connie, the rebellious teenager, runs across the highway to the drive-in restaurant “shaped like a big bottle” (Oates 552), a description that is naive and magical.

As Connie and her friend enter the infamous drive-in their faces are “pleased and expectant as if they were entering a sacred building that loomed up out of the night to give them what haven and blessing they yearned for” (Oates 552). It seems as if they are both entering an enchanted world full of their desires. And this magical world unsurprisingly is where all the older kinds hung out and the place Connie daydreamed of when she was confined at home. This magical place is also where we first get a glance at the most magical character of the story, Arnold Friend, the villain that seduces Connie. Connie first describes him as “… a boy with shaggy black hair, in a convertible jalopy painted gold” (Oates 553). We later find out that this mysterious character is actually an older man around the age of 30 who dresses like all the other adolescent boys and who seems to be wearing makeup, in which Connie refers to “a mask”. “She saw how thick the lashes were, thick and black as if painted with a black tarlike material” (Oates

557).
In addition to his magical youthful appeal, Arnold Friend possesses supernatural abilities. He knows all about Connie, her family and her friends. He knows that she is home alone, that her family is at a barbeque and he knows exactly what they are doing at that Barbeque. It was “as if he were staring all the way to town and over to Aunt Tillie’s backward” (Oates 558) she describes. At first, Arnold Friend’s mystical ability to “know everything” seems more like a “superman” quality rather than a trait of a villain. He first uses his supernatural ability to gain Connie’s interest and later uses that power against her, by threating her that he was going to go after her family and hurt them if she does not obey his commends. This characteristic of a villain posing as someone superior is often depicted in many modern fairytales, more in particular Walt Disney fairytales. Take for example Disney’s movie Frozen inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale The Snow Queen. In this story Anna, a young naïve girl, is seduced by the beautiful Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, who promises her a happy secure life when he proposes to her during Anna sister’s coronation. He poses to be an emotional, caring prince whose only interest is to live a “happily ever after” life with Anna. Later on in the story Anna runs into a conflict in which she needs an act of true love in order to release her heart from a spell. Anna goes after Hans for his kind loving kiss but is rejected only to find out that his only intention was to get ahold of her sister’s kingdom and become the new ruler. Joyce Carol Oates creates an antagonist who acts very similarly to modern day villains, first posing as a friend and later as the enemy.
Allusions of the modern and original fairytale Little Red Riding Hood is also present in Joyce Carol Oates short story. As the story climaxes Connie begins to describe Arnold Friend as having a familiar face, a face that reminds the reader of the well-known “big bad wolf”. “The jaw and chin and cheeks slightly darkened, because he hasn’t shaved in a day or two, and the nose long and hawk-like, sniffing as if she were a treat he was going to gobble up”, “his shaggy, shabby black hair that looked crazy as a wig” and his “big white teeth” (Oates 555). Her description clearly resembles the physical appearance of the villain in the fairytale Little Red Riding Hood. As we know the Wolf in the original tale ends up “gobbling” up the incident village girl, just as Arnold Friend does to Connie. At the end of Joyce Oates’ story the reader is exposed to the cruel and tragic destiny of the naïve Connie. Arnold Friend takes her way to somewhere from which she could not return and the story ends there confirming the fact that not every fairytale ends in a “happily ever after”.
There are various allusions to fairytales in Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Some allusions are to the original fairytales with dark themes while others resemble the contemporary Disney-like fairytales we are familiar with today.

No matter what type of fairytale Joyce Oates is referring to, they are all very important and add depth and interest to the story. They support the points Joyce Carol Oates is making and they create a sense of originality in her story. By using such allusions, Joyce Carol Oates is sharing with the reader a different view and meaning to the fairytales. She is opening up the minds of readers while still presenting something within her story that they can relate to and associate with. The allusions, the villain, the distinct protagonist, the magic and the moral lesson are all present in her story, therefore “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? can be considered a modern fairytale with a not so “happily ever

after”.