Where Are You Going Where Have You Been

In Joyce Carol Oates’s short story, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, we are shown Connie, a young girl who has a rebellious nature. Oates makes us watch as Connie makes rebellious decision after rebellious decision. She actively ignores her mother, goes to places that she should not with people that she should not. Trapped by what she feels is plainness in her parents, she rebels to make herself feel separated from them and more of a person in her mind. This is clear based off of all of her rebellious choices that she makes throughout the novel. She has come to be addicted to the lifestyle that she has come to call normal.

Possessed by a sense of wanting to be distant from her parents, Connie rebels at every opportunity she is given. From the highway she crosses to her destination the diner, the symbolism of these rebellious acts is everywhere. The diner that Connie is always going to when she says she is going to the shopping center is described to be shaped “like a big bottle” this description is to show how the diner is addictive to Connie and that the rebellious nature of going to the diner is something that gives her a sense of liveliness. The music that is always playing in the diner is described “like music at a church service” this is there to show how being rebellious has become a ritual to Connie like a cult. This nature will ultimately lead to her downfall.

The two-sidedness of Connie is evident in the text “Everything about her had two sides to it,” it shows that Connie’s rebellious nature has not completely taken control “her laugh which was cynical and drawn out at home” shows that she puts on a face for her home life and “but high-pitched and nervous anywhere else” shows the face that she puts on for her life outside of home. Changing her personality based on the people surrounding her is a major factor in her rebellious nature, it leaves her without a sense of who she actually is, so she acts out to test the limits of what she would do to try to figure out who she is herself. Her mother’s attempt at trying to make her identical to her older sister, June, is another factor that leads to Connie’s rebellious nature. Children are almost never willing to conform to a parent’s wishes immediately, so when Connie’s mother tries to shape her into her older sister, Connie’s first reaction is to rebel and do the opposite of what she wants. Connie feels betrayed that her mother does not accept who she is so to stick it to her mom, she goes out with boys at diners when she says she is somewhere else. The radio plays on throughout the story when she sins, foreboding that there would be evil to come early in a day that appeared to all others to be bright, sunny, and cheerful. As Arnold arrives, the music on the radio plays the same station as that in his car. This draws a direct parallel between the two people despite the fact that the reader knows nothing of the other party, which is powerful, because it appears to us that the two have similar tastes in music, thus they could have more similarities within their lives.

Throughout the story, Connie is searching to find out who she is. She is constantly worrying about how she looks. Realizing that by doing her hair and dressing a certain way she can attract boys. Connie discovers her budding sexuality and because of that she creates a new attitude for herself and that includes rebelling against her parents, doing this shows that she is trying to find a new side of herself. Searching for her search for sexual maturation puts her in a position that leaves her vulnerable. When Arnold Friend shows up at Connie’s door,