Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Book Analysis Essay

Sometimes, you can find yourself coming face to face with a predator, and you don’t even know it until it happens to you. You become blind, unable to see the danger right in front of you. I remember last summer as I innocently walked around the mall I encountered a much older man who tried to take images of me while trying to hide, but boy how it was so obvious. As he approached I had a feeling that there was evil radiating from his sly words of, “wow your so cute sweetie”, but I was too shy to speak up. My mom had always told me to never talk to strangers, and yell if I feel uncomfortable, but at that moment I failed to protect myself. I couldn’t process what had happened because of how he appeared. He was a sweet-looking old man who I felt bad for, and I would have never expected to do this act. But the world is so evil. It's a shame that this is the reality of so many minors, it's a shame that there are people in this world with the capabilities of doing such disgusting crimes. Although my experience is insignificant to the millions of other girls whose lives are taken by the hands of monsters, it is a reminder that this is a common occurrence for so many. A parallel scenario is demonstrated in Joyce Oates short story, “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been” which tells the story of a typical teenage girl named Connie-who falls at the hands of a strange being by the name of Arnold friend who shows up to her home to take her life away.  Through Arnold's friend's youthful mask he puts he intends to take Connie away from her youth, and Joyce Oates characterizes Arnold's friend as a sinister, supernatural character which suggests that through these vicious intentions he embodies the evil prevalence in this world.  

When Arnold's friend makes an initial bold entrance with the use of his gold car, he hopes to convey a youthful persona to distract Connie from his supernatural features and make her feel comfortable. Connie; a young teenage girl is caught up in the things a “normal” teenage girl would be interested in. Infatuated with boys, looks, and impressions, running in the race to maturity. She has a two-sided personality, “one for home, and one for anywhere that wasn’t home.”(20) While Connie presents to the readers that she feels embarrassed of her family her willingness to break away from her childhood is shown through her more risky side that she uses with her friends. While on the other hand the arrival of Arnold's friend who was not provided with any information of his past creates a mysterious and suspicious impression, but it intrigues her when his shiny gold car pulls into the driveway.  Oates writes,” It was an open jalopy, painted a bright gold that caught the sunlight opaquely…dontcha like mDontchaNew Paint job.”(4) Painting it a new gold is used to mask the old paint or himself. Oates chooses the color gold to show that the car, or that he is better than reality. Also, it is implied that the car was painted to create temptation and maintain Connie’s fascination with Arnold. Similarly, Arnold’s true look is masked through his clothing, makeup, and wig as it is said, “ She watched this smile come, awkward as if he were smiling from inside a mask”(5) This gives the readers the first clue that Arnold friend is hiding something strange just from the features on his face. This “mask” is not only shown through his smile but also through the sunglasses covering his “chips of broken glass”(5) looking eyes that felt that they were so sharp that they gave an uncomfortable look.  Although originally struck by Arnold's arrival, Connie slowly is taken under the spell of his manipulation, and his ways of concealing his true identity.  It does not become long until long that their interaction becomes. 

The increasingly odd behaviors and demands that Arnold imposes foreshadow Connie’s fearful fate he has planned for to satisfy his desires, and the revealing shift in his appearance reflects Arnold's strange intentions. The way how Arnold transforms his words into a more suspicious manner paints an odd image about who Arnold is, “She recognized all this and also the singing way he talked, slightly mocking, slightly mocking, kidding, but serious and a little melancholy, and she recognized the way he tapped his fist against the other in homage to the perpetual music behind him. But all these things did not come together?”. (8) As Arnold’s true colors become more transparent the still present The confusion about why there seemed to be something not right about Arnold becomes clear to Connie since Arnold doesn't seem to pose the traits that Connie is accustomed to seeing with other boys her age. Moreover, the questions about why Arnold had come to her home start to be answered as it becomes noticeable that Arnold is much older.