Review Of The Story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'

Melissa Gurley
September 17,2017
Short Essay #1
Comp 1102
Dr. B
“Where are you going, where have you been?” Is set in a surbuban American in the 50s and 60s in a world with sexual revolution, yet still fundamentally conservative. In the story only men, never women are seen driving, the model of womanhood is still limited, depicted by the dowdy and domestic June. Things are changing in the world with new honors for young women like Connie. One of the existential themes playing a major role in the story is the choice between right and wrong. Arnold friend comes to the new world but the threat he represents, with violence and control, is a much older one. In the story Connie is living in a fantasy like all other 15 year old

girls, but she is brought trouble and trapped by the antagonist Arnold friend, and is brought to a world its reality in it. Symbols play a big role in the story. Oates uses them through out the story to show a diff range between fantasy vs. reality.
In the story Connie is described as a 15 year old trying to find herself in womanhood, and not the 15 year old she is, she is concerned on her looks and has a habit “craning her neck to glance in the mirror or checking other peoples faces to make sure her own was all right” (361) and being an rebellious teenage. She knows that she has a beauty to attract boys so she spends lots of time getting dressed and curling her hair a certain way. Connie has discovered her sex Appel and she has started to act more grown that she is, she start to rebel against her parents more because of her new attitude she has discovered. Her appearance makes her believe in her fantasy world that she is more of an women than just a teenager and can attract any boy she wants. Which in the real world could possibly get her into trouble that she don’t understand yet. The music she enjoys listens to seems to give her an escape from reality that she lives for. To her the music gives her the courage she needs to believe that she is living in her fantasy world. She also daydreams her fantasies about boys. She find romance and happiness in the music that she listens to which makes her believe that her environment around her is that way.
Cultural values have changed, Connie’s favorite place to hang out is the is the drive, that is located across from the mall. The restaurant becomes the allegory of the church. Even the shape of the restaurant favors the shape of a church. “The restaurant was shaped like a big bottle… and on its cap was a revolving figure of a grinning boy holding a hamburger aloft”, most churches have the bottle shaped body with a cross on the top. For the girls this restaurant is a “ scared building” ( 120), where they sit “crossed their legs and ankles”(120), both church and the restruant have similarities where both places girls sit with legs crossed and listen to music. “ The music was always on in the background, like music at a church service; it was something to depend on”(120). Pop music was what teenagers worship apron in the 1960s.
Arnold Friend as a character in the story attracts the reader with his strange appearance which suggests his devilish disposition. When Connie meets him for the first time, he appears with “shaggy black hair in a convertible jalopy painted gold” (Oates 121). The gold color of the car is also a tool of seduction because it is shiny, unconventional and attracts attention. He didn’t get out from the car as most of us do, but slid out as a snake, which in the Bible proposes a form of devil. His eyes were “like holes that were not in shadow but instead in light” (Oates 126). His posture was strange and “his feet resemble the devil’s cloven hooves: ‘One of his boots was at a strange angle, as if his foot wasn’t in it.’…” (201 – 02). He had a hawk like nose and was sniffing which makes him personified as an animal or a dog. Arnold Friend seemed to have supernatural power who knew everything about everybody. He knew Connie’s friends, their names, what she did last night and the whereabouts of her parents. This uncanny behavior makes an impact on Connie, but she still cannot make her choice between resisting Arnold Friend or to give in to his influence. The lack of her resistance gave even more power to the devil to impose his will on her. She could not call for help because she voluntary followed the instructions given by the devil, Arnold Friend: “That’s a good girl. Put the phone back’” (Oates 134). Arnold Friend threatened Connie with dire consequences of hurting her family and loved ones if she would not relent with his demands. This spell of fear compelled Connie to surrender to Arnold Friend’s adamant hegemony.
When reading the story I first didn’t recognize the mythical numbers that represents him on his car.

The three numbers on his car 33, 19, 17 add up to the number 69 which becomes a “secret sexual code” Number 11 followed Connie from the beginning of the story. Her father used to pick up the girls from the mall at eleven, she meets her friend at eleven, and on Sunday Connie gets up at eleven. After, reading and analyzing what I have read I finally understood the meaning of the numbers. This implies that the world in which Connie lived was disorganized and imperfect. She valued popular music and worshiped boys, but she was unaware of the dangers lurking behind her choices. Connie’s desire to explore her sexuality despite conventional rules made her susceptible to the work of the devil. Her parents also had contributed to the haphazard lifestyle of her world. Her father was never at home and he hardly found the time to talk to her. The reader also gets an impression that on Sundays it was not important for all the members of the family to attend the church together which let us suspect that Connie was left alone to contributed to her fantasy world she lived

in.
Arnold Friend being a seductive Satan is that he works gradually on Connie’s soul by applying threat and mental pressure. Arnold Friend gradually applies tension and threats to Connie, but he also waits until she willingly succumbs to his power. When he was coming closer to her house, Connie cried out that she will call the police if he will not stop, but instead of backing off, he said: “‘…honey, I’m not coming in there but you are coming out here. You know why?’”(Oates 131). The house is the representation of a safe place. Even though her soul is vulnerable to the seductions of the devil, as long she is at home she is safe. Coming out of the house means conceding to the power of the devil. Arnold Friend had never crossed the line of sanctuary of her house: “Arnold Friend was saying from the door, ‘That’s a good girl. Put the phone back’” (Oates 134). Connie’s inability to call for help is a sign of her surrender to the power of Satan. Finally, she completely gives up to the supernatural powers of Arnold Friend: “She watched herself push the door slowly open…watching this body and this head of long hair moving out into the sunlight where Arnold Friend waited” (Oates 135).
Arnold Friend symbolizes the dark side of reality.

The author conveys Arnold as the opposing force to Connie’s child-like fantasy world. Arnold knows that he can take advantage of Connie and corrupt her world easily, and nothing is going to stop him from doing so. He is a predator and is determined to lure Connie over…even if it means by force. Everything about the way Arnold looks and acts represents his shady and dark persona. Arnold’s hair is “shaggy, shabby black hair that looked crazy as a wig” (366). His hair is the contrast to Connie’s golden blonde hair which symbolizes innocence. Oates describes Arnold’s hair as looking like a wig. This represents a sort of fake cover-up on Arnold’s behalf. Arnold’s sunglasses serve as another symbol. His sunglasses reflect mirror images and do not show his eyes. This symbolizes a disguise, as if Arnold is trying to hide who he really is. Arnold’s car is an extension of himself. It serves as a contrast between who Arnold really is and who he is disguised as. The car symbolizes the fantasy and reality aspect of Arnold. Oates uses the old jalopy to symbolize the reality of Arnold, and the new paint job is used to symbolize Arnold’s fake disguise that he puts on to lure Connie in. Arnold’s car becomes an example of all that is dark about his appearance and nature. The color gold represents a sort of flashy aura as if he is trying to attract a younger crowd. The saying “Man the Flying Saucers” is written on the

front fender of Arnold’s car. According to Oates, “It was an expression kids had used the year before but didn’t use this year” (369). This reflects how Arnold tries to fit in with the young kids even though he is much older. Connie asks Arnold how old he is and she realizes that he is not a kid, that he may be thirty or older. When Connie realizes that Arnold is much older than she thought, she is taken over by fear of the unknown. This situation is much different than any other she has ever experienced. Her fantasy world is coming to a standstill.

When Arnold first pulls up to Connie’s house she is overtaken with excitement. Her first reaction is to be concerned with the way she looks. Connie wants to be noticed by boys, but especially by older men. She is curious as to what adult sexuality is and notices that Arnold possesses this sexuality. During Connie’s encounter with Arnold she is torn between desire and fear but as the situation escalates she is overwhelmed by fear. Connie occasionally experiences periods in which she is taken over by dizziness. The dizziness symbolizes Connie’s fear and weakness taking over her. Connie feels a wave of dizziness when she realizes that Arnold’s friend Ellie is also a grown man and has “the face of a forty-year-old baby” (371). Oates elucidates that Arnold has a “long and hawklike (nose), sniffing as if she (Connie) were a treat he was going to gobble up and it was all a joke” (368). This sentence reveals the true evil in Arnold Friend. It almost makes him appear to be some sort of monster, something not of the human race. Arnold embodies all that is evil and is going to break his way into Connie’s fantasy world and take advantage of her.
In conclusion, Arnold Friend is an allegoric image of the demon that possesses all the powers common to the demon in Christian religion. The major role in the story plays the theme of the existential choice between right and wrong that cause the occurrence of a devil in human form, Arnold Friend. The Cultural Revolution in the American society had changed the moral values among the people, especially young people who became vulnerable to the dangers of misinterpretation of new values: popular music, love, sexuality and freedom. Arnold Friend uses the passion of the new music and the desire to explore sexuality as a tool to achieve his devilish work. His strange appearance, name and behavior throughout the story insinuate a demonic spirit. He marks his victim with his sign to be chosen for Satan’s test. Arnold Friend works diligently targeting young innocent girl violating her physically and emotionally which again reveals his ulterior motives and the work of an evil. In the end Connie is unable to resist the seduction and surrenders to the power of Arnold Friend which results not only in physical rape but also moral degradation.