Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is a frequently anthologized short story written by Joyce Carol Oates. The story first appeared in the Fall 1966 edition of Epoch magazine. It was inspired by three Tucson, Arizona murders committed by Charles Schmid, which were profiled in Life magazine in an article written by Don Moser on March 4, 1966.[1] Oates said that she dedicated the story to Bob Dylan because she was inspired to write it after listening to his song "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue".[2][3] The story was originally named "Death and the Maiden".[4]

Plot

Connie is a fifteen-year-old girl who loves nothing more than spending time with her friends at the plaza and flirting with the boys she meets there. She is frustrated by her family and her life at home, where her mother scolds her for her vanity and continually compares her to her older sister, June. One summer night, she and a friend go to the drive-in restaurant at the plaza, and while Connie reflects on how the music playing in the background “made everything so good.” After a while, Connie leaves the restaurant with a boy named Eddie. On their way to Eddie’s car, Connie notices a boy with shaggy black hair staring at her from his gold car. He tells Connie “Gonna get you, baby,” and draws an X in the air with his finger, but Connie ignores him.

One Sunday, Connie’s family goes to a barbecue at her aunt’s house, and Connie stays at home. She sits out in the yard, dreaming of boys she has been with in the past. When she opens her eyes, she is disoriented and goes to listen to the radio in the house. She becomes completely absorbed in the music, and after some time hears a car coming up the drive. Though she stays inside the house, Connie can see there are two boys in the car, which is a gold jalopy convertible. The driver behaves as if there’s nothing unusual about his being there and apologizes for being late. The boy in the passenger seat simply plays music on a transistor radio. Though Connie is reluctant to speak with the driver, once it becomes clear they have the same taste in music, she begins to engage more in conversation. The boy tells Connie his name is Arnold Friend and tries to convince her to come for a ride. Eventually, Connie remembers that he is the same boy she recently saw at the restaurant. Friend now begins telling Connie things about her own life, speaking in a lilting voice “as if he were reciting the words to a song.”[5][6]

Characters

Connie: A beautiful girl who loves life. She is unsatisfied with her family, especially her mother, and seeks fulfillment elsewhere. She loves listening to music and is essentially a typical teenager.

Arnold Friend: A mysterious figure who visits Connie while her family is not at home and continuously demands that Connie to get in the car and go on a ride with him. He attempts to be smooth talking, yet his strange, performative and threatening behaviour make Connie uneasy and scared to be with him.

Ellie: Arnold's friend who is very strange and sits in Arnold's car when they go to Connie's house. He listens to music and mostly stays back as Arnold tries to smooth talk his way to get Connie in the car with them.

Connie's Mother: Was once very beautiful when she was younger and is now a frustrating figure in Connie's life. They often argue.

June: The older sister of Connie, who is basically the opposite of her. She does everything that her family asks of her, and is doted on by their mother.[7][8]

Critical review

Considerable academic analysis has been written about the story, with scholars divided on whether it is intended to be taken literally or as allegory. Several writers focus on the series of numbers written on Friend's car, which he indicates are a code of some sort, but which is never explained:

"Now, these numbers are a secret code, honey," Arnold Friend explained. He read off the numbers 33, 19, 17 and raised his eyebrows at her to see what she thought of that, but she didn't think much of it.

Literary scholars have interpreted this series of numbers as different Biblical references (the title appears to have been taken from Judges 19:17[9]),[10][11] as an underlining of Friend's sexual deviancy,[12] or as a reference to the ages of Friend and his victims.[10]

The narrative has also been viewed as an allegory for initiation into sexual adulthood,[13] an encounter with the devil, a critique of modern youth's obsession with sexual themes in popular music,[14] or as a dream sequence.[15]

Adaptations

The story was loosely adapted into the 1985 film Smooth Talk, starring Laura Dern and Treat Williams.[16] Oates wrote an essay about the adaptation, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" and Smooth Talk: Short Story Into Film, in 1986.[17]

The story has also been cited as an inspiration for Rose McGowan's 2014 short film Dawn as well as The Blood Brothers' 2003 song "The Salesman, Denver Max".[18][19][20][21]

References
  1. Moser, Don; Cohen, Richard M. (November 1967). The Pied Piper of Tucson by Don & Jerry Cohen Moser | Kirkus Reviews. ISBN 978-0453001243.
  2. Oates, J.C. & Showalter, E. (1994). "Introduction". Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been. Rutgers University Press. p. 9. ISBN 0-8135-2135-1.
  3. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been and Bob Dylan, 2011-01-11, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2018-04-24
  4. Oates, Joyce Carol (2016-10-10). ""Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" and Smooth Talk: Short Story Into Film". Celestial Timepiece. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  5. Wegs, Joyce M (1975). “‘Don’t You Know Who I Am?’: The Grotesque in Oates’s ‘Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?’”. The Journal of Narrative Technique, vol. 5, no. 1, Department of English Language and Literature, Eastern Michigan University, p. 69.
  6. Cruise, James (2005). “‘Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?’ And Cold War Hermeneutics”. South Central Review, vol. 22, no. 2, [South Central Modern Language Association, Johns Hopkins University Press], p. 109.
  7. Hurley, D F (Summer 1991). "Impure Realism: Joyce Carol Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'". Studies in Short Fiction. 28 (3): 371. ProQuest 1297942472.
  8. Hurley, C Harold (Winter 1987). "Cracking the Secret Code in Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'". Studies in Short Fiction. 24 (1): 62. ProQuest 1297940520.
  9. "Judges 19 and Arnold Friend's Enigmatic Code". 20 April 2017.
  10. Pinewski, David (Spring 1991). "Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'". Explicator. 49 (3): 195–196. doi:10.1080/00144940.1991.11484066.
  11. Robson, Mark (Summer 1982). "Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'". The Explicator. 40 (4): 59–60. doi:10.1080/00144940.1982.11483609.
  12. Hurley, C. Harold (Winter 1987). "Cracking the Secret Code in Oats's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been'". Studies in Short Fiction. 24 (1): 62–66.
  13. Urbanski, Marie Mitchell Olesen (1978). "Existential Allegory: Joyce Carol Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'". Studies in Short Fiction. 15: 200–203.
  14. Petry, Alice Hall (Spring 1988). "Who Is Ellie? Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'". Studies in Short Fiction. 25 (2): 155–157.
  15. Rubin, Larry (Summer 1984). "Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'". Explicator. 42 (4): 57–59. doi:10.1080/00144940.1984.11483813.
  16. Dickinson, P. (July 2008). "Riding in Cars with Boys: Reconsidering 'Smooth Talk'". Literature Film Quarterly. 36 (3): 202–214.
  17. Oates, Joyce Carol (2016-10-10). ""Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" and Smooth Talk: Short Story Into Film". Celestial Timepiece. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  18. Selvin, Rachel. "A Closer Look At Rose McGowan's "Dawn"". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  19. Blog, 1More Film (2014-10-11). "Rose McGowan's Dawn and the Problem of Short Films". 1More Film Blog. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  20. "Watch: Rose McGowan's Acclaimed Short, Dawn". ComingSoon.net. 2015-06-22. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  21. Teutsch, Matthew (2017-04-18). "The Blood Brothers' "The Salesman, Denver Max" and Joyce Carol Oates". Interminable Rambling. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  • Complete text on Celestial Timepiece, an authorized Joyce Carol Oates Home Page
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