Where Are You Going, where Have you Been?

A detailed Summary of Where Are You Going, where Have you Been?


Joyce Carol Oates' short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have you Been?", is about entering new uncertain future. Within only a short time Connie, the protagonist of the story, has to grow up, learn to take responsibility and face the cruel and hard reality of life.

"My sweet little blue-eyed girl," he said, in a half sung sigh that had nothing to do with her brown eyes but was taken up just the same by the vast sunlit reaches of the land behind him and on all sides of him, so much land that Connie had never seen before and did not recognize except to know that she was going to it."

This paper will show that Connie develops from a superficial and dreamy teenage- girl into a more rational woman. The first paragraphs will deal with Connie's life as the young careless teenager. Her behavior and attitudes towards her family and with her peers will be looked at. The actual encounter with Arnold Friend will be examined in the succeeding sections.

According to Christiana Marsden Gillis the:

" very title of the story calls attention to duality: A future (Where Are You Going) and the past (Where Have You Been). The tale catches its main character at a passage point where, it is implied, the future may depend preci


"Their father was away at work most of the time and when he came home he wanted supper and he read the newspaper at supper and after supper went to bed. He didn't bother talking much to them."

Arnold Friend is the reason why Connie leaves her childhood and enters adulthood within only a short period of time. She has realized that life is not similar to her trashy dreams and that that romantic world created in pop songs and movies. She realizes that he is capable of involving details of those dreams into this nightmare-like-situation. He not only persuades her into coming with him, he also persuades her into adulthood. Now that her sense of responsibility has been appealed

The restaurant, which they headed to, is described as being

An additional aspect of the story which indicates Connie's childhood end is her loss of seeing her home as a secure place. When Arnold starts pointing out how fragile her surroundings are and when she feels herself locked up in her own house, Connie begins to see the scene as an adult who returns to his home after having grown-up. According to Claudia Marsden Gillis:



Some common words found in the essay are:
Arnold Friend, Marsden Gillis, Dessommes Connie, Carol Oates', Connie June, June Connie, Arnold Ellie, Arnold Friend's, Friend Connie, Ellie Oscar, arnold friend, sister june, revolving figure grinning, sister june connie, grinning boy, connie's past, connie june, main ambition, revolving figure, trashy daydreams, connie seen recognize, encounter arnold friend, figure grinning, june connie, land connie seen,

Approximate Word count = 1987
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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