Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Literary Analysis

Teenagers in general are often stereotyped into one general category: unruly, uncaring, and self-absorbed. In the short story “Where are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates plays on this stereotype. She uses imagery and point of view to direct the reader’s attention to the teenage girl psyche, selfish, whimsical, and longing for attention and affection, and how this stereotypical psyche can be distorted and controlled. The protagonist of the story, Connie, is a vain, “typical” teenage girl, looking for attention, especially from the opposite sex. Constantly “…craning her neck to glance in mirrors” (614), she often considered her appearance and how she looked to others to be a matter of extreme, if not most, importance.
However, one day when Connie was alone, the boy’s bright gold jalopy drove up the driveway. His manner and everything about him seemed off to Connie, but for some reason she could not walk away from the boy. Introducing himself and Arnold Friend, he continues to pressure her to leave and take a drive with him and his friend, who also gives Connie a creepy feeling. The image of Arnold as Oates describes him gives the reader a red flag, starting with his last name of “friend.” His efforts to appear to be a friendly boy about Connie’s age show him to be a person interested only so far as getting her into the car with him. His shaggy black hair and “face of a forty-year-old baby” (620) slowly start to make Connie realize that these “boys” might not be whom they say they are. For some reason, though, she feels compelled to continue her conversation with Mr. Friend. Arnold’s manner of speech and actions suggest he is trying to make her see him as something he is not, and that he is making a huge effort. As she finally tries to break away, however, it seems to be too late. He already has gotten into her head too