As the wise philosopher Albert Camus once said: “The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding” ("Albert Camus."). In the captivating short story Where Are You Going, Where Are you Been? Joyce Carol Oates is trying to show the readers that beauty and vanity can be sometimes harmful. Bored and tired of being ordinary, and still being treated as a child, the main character engaged in a rebellion that think will make her look older, more like an adult. The author also shows the readers how Connie’s obsession with her beauty, her dreaminess and carelessness of the world made her more ignorant and lack awareness. That also made her become more vulnerable to the real dangers and the evilness that exists in the world. That danger was represented by an old man who pretends to be an eighteen year old boy that seduced and kidnaped Connie. The end of the story Joyce Carol Oates leaves it open to the readers, because that way it makes the reader think of what might have happened, whether she got raped or whether she is killed, after the main character leaves with the antagonist of the story. Oates shows that ignorance, narcissism and the lack of self-awareness can easily make someone more gullible and susceptible to the evilness of the world.
In my opinion the story have a simple, yet at the same time a complex theme. That is because Oates presents a simple young teenager that has big expectations and unrealistic belief of the world, which made her more gullible and susceptible to the true reality of the world actually is. When Arnold; the antagonist of the story saw that innocence and vulnerability in the protagonist he was able to deceive her and make her go with him. That proves that evilness still exists, because of the ignorance that people have of life. Moreover through the theme of the story, Connie was able to learn that people should not grow up too fast, because if they do they will not learn anything. She also realized that she is needs the feeling of family belonging and safety, especially her mother’s love; that is why when she got threaten, she decide to sacrifice herself and gets hurt instead of her family.
The protagonist in Where Are You Going, Where Are you Been? is Connie, who is also a dynamic and flat character. The reason why is because Joyce Carol Oates focuses on the development and transition of being a young, carefree teen girl to adulthood, but at the same time terrified from the encounter with the antagonist Arnold Friend. At the beginning of the story Connie was portrayed as young, beautiful, egotistic girl. Her attitude and actions toward her family, friends and life in general were double-dealing and insincere. At home, she acted a certain way, but when she was out alone with her friends, she was like a totally different person. She also thought very highly of herself, with high self-esteem and confidence that she was a good flirt with the boys. During the encounter with Arnold; at first Connie thought she was smarter than him and he was just one of the boys that was interested in her. The viewpoint that she had until that moment dramatically changed when she saw Arnold’s violence and abilities to manipulate her vulnerability. Through Arnold’s true nature, Connie finally realized that the world she fantasized was not as she thought and was more dangerous than ever. That moment she also realized that growing up faster than how she was supposed to, was reckless and not always a good idea ("The Devil in Joyce Carol Oates' Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"). Not being confident in herself and powerless against the evilness of the antagonist she fall to the ground and begin to cry for her mother. That was the other moment when she demonstrated her immaturity and childless. At the end, after getting convened and threatened by Arnold, Connie decided to sacrifice herself and left with him. That ends the story, leaving the readers not knowing what happens and what her future holds ahead (Mwestwood). The other major significance that the author use to help create the theme were the symbols that were slowly presented throughout the story development.
Joyce Carol Oates writes the short story with a couple of allegorical figures and objects that have a significant meaning behind them, which makes the story more mysterious, dark and in some way scary. The readers can immediately notice that even the title of the story has a symbolic meaning. The two questions asked in the title are symbolic of how Connie’s life has been doing until the moment of the meeting with Arnold and what her future was going to be. Moreover, those two questions are constantly asked by parents at a certain stage of a teenager’s life, which usually makes the parent think that they raised their children right and successfully. In Connie’s family the reader can see that her mother was trying to be a good parent and was always making sure what Connie was doing and where she was going. However because her mother was always telling her what she was supposed to do, Connie did not pay attention to her. On the other hand her father was a good example; opposite of Connie’s mother; that was because he did not interact too much with his girls, so he did not “bother” to ask them those types of questions (Podunc.). That also was one of the reasons why the protagonist felt that she was invincible, strong and free-spirited individual, which was not the case. Another symbolic figure that played a major role in the story was Arnold Friend himself. He was a flat figure that most of the readers believe was associated with the Devil, due to his actions throughout the story. Some of the examples were that he knew things, like who were Connie’s parents, what were they doing that that they, how they were dressed and in one point, he said that he saw the protagonist’s mother preparing the corn with “the fat woman,” which were things that a normal person would not be able to know or see (Charters, Ann 630). Another example was when Arnold states what would happen if the house got on fire, which could be a symbol that the house will become the Satan’s lair and that she would run to him, indicating that Connie would eventually resist to him and do what he tells her (McManus, Dermot.). Some readers believes that he was a vampire, which could be the reason why he did not enter the house. Moreover, his pale face could have been the other indicator that could have misled the readers into thinking that he was a vampire.
The house was another symbol that represents the feeling of home, the known and the security from the evilness of the unknown world. The door of the house represented the transition from being free-spirited and confident young teenager to a woman that sacrificed herself for the family and giving in to the vulnerability. The minute she stepped out of the house was the indication that Arnold has won. From that point on Connie saw the ugly reality of the world and her life was in the hand of the evilness that nobody, even she herself did not know where she is going or what her future is going to look like.
In conclusion the short story Where Are You Going, Where Are you Been? shows the readers that that vanity and lack of self-awareness can make some vulnerable and easily fall for the evilness of the world. Because Connie became vulnerable, she was easily persuaded by Arnold, who was portrayed as the Devil figure and the darkness that exists, to leave her the known safety of her home and to embark on the road to the unclear future. Oates’s story teaches the readers to be cautious of their surroundings and of the people that are unfamiliar to them that live in the same society. That is because even if someone appears to look a certain way they might have a mask that hides the true darkness and evilness that is in their body and soul.