Joyce Carol Oates starts by presenting Connie, a characteristic if otiose, 15-year-old girl with a custom of continually examining her image in glasses. Connie’s mother enviously reprimands her for her preening, but she disregards her grievances, protect in her trust that being attractive is the whole thing. Her mom relates Connie disapprovingly to her elder, plump sister June. Connie’s father hardly admits his family, although her mom continually criticizes her(Oates and Wolff).
In the sunsets, Connie’s mate’s father takes them to the shopping plaza in the town, where they spend their time unsupervised. In the shopping mall, Connie alters her identity, changing her laugh, clothes, walk, and smile; at the house, she is tired and surly, while with her mates she is cheerful and flirty. Connie and her mates mostly cross the roads to visit the implant cafeteria, where they see the melody and elder boys(Cherkasov et al.).
One night at the cafeteria Connie has seen a boy who is named as Eddie, and she left her mates to track him to his vehicle. As they depart the burger point, Connie detectives a boy in a very bright gold vehicle amused at her. He bouncily smiles, “Gonne get you, baby” as she paces away. After some time, she sees her mate, and they return to home.
Connie devotes most of her time fantasizing around the boys and love in overall and unclear technique. Although she contests with her mom continually, she defendants her mom favors her to June as of her loveliness. Connie’s mom devotes the most of her time wandering about the home in the slippers and nattering with her sisters.
On the afterward morning, Connie’s family is departing for a grill at her auntie’s home, but she chooses to remain at house and wash-out her hair in its place, annoying her mom. Connie lays down in the courtyard let her hair to get dried and drift-off, imagining of the love. She awakens and is provisionally confused earlier to the heading back inside. She lays down in the bed and hearing the radio and calming when she listens a vehicle pulling into her driveway.
Examining her hair, Connie went down to examine and discovers the boy and that golden vehicle that she has seen in the cafeteria car parks in the night earlier. Connie walks-out to the front entrance, where the boy asked her to comes for a trip and expresses her that she is pretty. She notices that he and his mate, who is seating in the passenger chair, are hearing to the similar radio-station that she was listening up in her room at home.
The boy presents himself as Arnold mate and demonstrates her all the mottos that are dyed on his vehicle, with the witticisms and an undisclosed code. He requests her to come and to looks at the opposite side of the vehicle but Connie rejects, waiting in the entrance. When he inquires her to come for a trip over, Connie rights she has the stuff to prepare, irritating his laughter. He funs and expresses her this day has been reserved for their trip together.
Connie adores the approach Arnold Friend wears cloths: like an adolescent from 1950 era or of the era of 1960. He appears indistinctly acquainted. Arnold Friend is using her term, removing her doubt, as she has not ever shared it. Connie inquires where he could take her, and Arnold Friend appears pleased by the impression of a trip having a terminus. He asks her he has not only known her names but that her parents went and how long they will be going for, in addition to the names of her mates. As he says, Arnold Friend echoes as if he is narrating the arguments to a tune.
Connie inspects his vehicle and understands the expression, “MAN THE FLYING SAUCERS,” an outmoded portion of jargon, written on the lateral. This interrupts her, but she could not identify why. Arnold mate displays her symbol, making an X in the midair, explaining he rushed it at her when he 1st sees her. Connie looks sensibly at her guest and understands that all think that he appears like all of the other boys that she knows; it is somewhat odd around him.
She requests his age, understanding he is more aged than her, about 30 years old. With a shock, Connie is noticing that the Arnold Friend’s friend, Ellie Oscar, appears like a 40-year-old-man. This understanding makes her faint, as she recognizes the condition is far more thoughtful than she firstly supposed(Borry et al.).
Connie inquires the person to leave, but Arnold Friend rejects to leave and demands that she will have to go with her. She notices that he has wear a toupee and is beaten by another wave of faintness. He starts telling Connie’s family at the BBQ, saying that her sister’s blue cloths and noticing that her mom is shucking the corn with one of the family’s friend. Arnold Friend is apparently sighting the actions from the across-town.
Even the label of the story itself, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” has enthused numerous clarifications. For several readers, it is evocative of the queries a parent could inquire from their young daughter, caustic as Connie’s parents are so uncomplicated in her lifestyle. To the others, they possess questions that Connie is inquiring herself as she tries to come out to be an adult with a fully shaped intelligence of itself. To the others still, they denote to Arnold Friend’s secretive roots and tactics. Near the story’s conclusion Arnold Friend scoffs Connie stating, “The place where you came from isn’t there anymore, and where you had in mind to go is canceled out” (13), reflecting the heading. Maybe the heading mentions to all these stuff in dissimilar techniques, showing so reminiscent precisely as it hides some layers of sense. If so, it could appropriate Joyce Carol Oates short story precisely.
Works Cited
Borry, Pascal, et al. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been: A Recent History of the Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing Market.” Journal of Community Genetics, vol. 1, no. 3, 2010, pp. 101–06.
Cherkasov, Artem, et al. “QSAR Modeling: Where Have You Been? Where Are You Going To?” Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, vol. 57, no. 12, 2014, p. 4977.
Oates, Joyce Carol, and Tobias Wolff. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Difusión, Centro de Investigación y Pubicaciones de Idiomas, 2013.
