Summary Of 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'

In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, we come to identify a distinct theme of fantasy vs. reality. They come to light and understanding by the two main characters, Connie and Arnold. Through Arnold and the progression of the story we come to be revealed the truth and inaccuracy, by personification of the distinction between reality and what one would perceive to be reality through an adolescent girls mindset, of the understanding of boys and sex, young girls believe they have. Her name was Connie. She was your average teenage girl filled with false perceptions of reality brought about by the false ideas of love entertained by her choice of music and movies. She was a pretty girl with “…long dark blonde …show more content…
He says, “Gonna get you, baby.” (Oates 362), at first introduction, but is ignored as a typical teenager might ignore the reality standing right in front of them. Arnold represents her ideas of a typical bad boy with shaggy black hair, scuffed up boots, tight clothing to line his muscular body, accompanied with a freshly painted car. This idea waits right outside her door, as her false perceptions begin to come to light. Her two personas are now face to face, literally. He poses himself as a comfortable situation by being accompanied by his friend, Ellie, not behaving aggressively, and introducing himself as “Friend”, saying he will be her friend, and allowing Connie to make her own decisions on whether or not to accompany him on “their date”. As the flirtations go on and invitations pour out of Arnold, his understanding of who Connie is and who her friends are and where her family is becomes evident and it begins to make Connie recognize her reality standing right before her. With her new developing understanding she started to now see Arnold as an older man along with his friend whom also seemed to have “…the face of a forty year old baby.”(Oates 369). Her bad boy was gone; her desire for attention was diminished, she was now afraid of her idea as it faced her head on. As it gave her the attention she believed she desired, and the sexual …show more content…
“ I’ll hold you so tight you wont think you have to try to get away or pretend anything because you'll know you can’t. And ill come inside you where it’s all secret and you'll give in to me and you'll love me—“, Arnold said (Oates 370). Connie covered her ears as if she heard her ideas out loud for the first time crumble around her into a reality filled with lust and sex, “…Something not meant for her.” (Oates 371). His name was no longer inviting nor reassuring, rather it now appeared to define Fiend, not Friend. She runs into the comfort of the place which accepted her childish antics, to no avail to his warnings that he would pursue her if she were to run away, and begins to call for the mother whom she used to be bothered by so much, for she should've taken her words to heart. She shouldn't have taken pride in her looks, she should have been telling the truth on not being one of those girls and perhaps she wouldn’t have had to face this reality so soon of what those things inevitably bring. An attack appears to occur; perhaps a rape as Connie describes Arnold Friend stabbing her over an over with no tenderness, inside her home. Connie was at a loss of words when she finally goes through her reality and is touched by it;“…So much land that Connie had never seen before and did not recognize except to know that she was going to it.” (Oates 375).