Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

Many scholars have written extensively about the implications of Arnold Friend in the narrative. Is Arnold a mortal serial killer hunting girls or is he a magical entity who comes to collect Connie for nefarious purposes? Are his intentions evil, pure, or some indifferent mix of both? Support your answer with concrete details from the narrative.

In folklore traditions, dreams hold important sway over the daily lives of characters. How do dreams disrupt Connie’s life in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Do Connie’s dreams ever “overtake” the narrative or blur the boundary line with concrete reality?

In ecocriticism, the physical setting of a story is analyzed for the way it contributes to a piece of literature’s meaning. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is set largely in Connie’s suburban neighborhood, full of starter homes built on tracts of land that were paved over following World War II to capitalize on the return of soldiers looking to start families. How are the themes of Connie’s story specific to her physical setting and its history? How might the lens of ecocriticism relate to the story’s final scene of verdant green? What about the drive-in restaurant?

What is the role of women in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Do they wield power or are they victims of their environments and relationships? What is Joyce Carol Oates saying about this power dynamic?

Throughout the story, the influence of pop culture continually appears as a motif. Connie is obsessed with popular music, Arnold Friend speaks in a lilt singsong as if he is reciting lyrics, and whenever he appears, Connie can hear music. In addition to these instances, the story is dedicated to Bob Dylan. What is Oates trying to say through the inclusion of these allusions?

Joyce Carol Oates was inspired to write "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" after reading an article about Arizona serial killer Charles Schmid in LIFE magazine titled, “The Pied Piper of Tucson.” In the German folk tale, the Pied Piper lures away the children of Hamelin by way of a magical melody played on his pipe, in retribution after he is wronged by the townsfolk. How does Oates split the difference between the German folk tale and the LIFE article alluding to it? What is she saying about the stories we tell in our culture?

In Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I Could Not Stop For Death,” the speaker of the poem describes a surprise visitation by a spectral stagecoach driver who takes her on an elegiac ride away from her home. How is Arnold’s appearance, mysterious arrival, and insistence on Connie’s “taking a drive” with him similar to Dickinson’s famous poem?

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” continues to enjoy a rich debate over the nature of its divisive ending, in many cases straddling the boundary lines of genre conventions. How do the story’s ambiguous qualities—its use of free indirect discourse, allusions to dream logic, and mysterious final image—suit Connie’s story better than a stable ending with only one interpretation? How would a stable ending change the story?