Some even read the last scenes as evidence of Connie's psychosis: there's no ennobling act here, just a fragile psyche falling apart (see Showalter's "Introduction" for a broad sketch of the debate). Others read the story as a feminist critique of a male-dominated society: the ending is essentially tragic, Connie's submission to Arnold Friend standing for the ways women are oppressed in a patriarchal society. Some read the story as an anti-feminist allegory: Arnold Friend is Connie's punishment for having sexual feelings for boys. Oates has described Connie's actions at the end of the story as an "unexpected gesture of heroism," a decision to sacrifice herself so that her family would remain unharmed. In other words, it was a time of great, controversial upheaval.Īnd, like the 1960's themselves, this story has generated tons o' controversy since its publication. Issues such as feminism, sexual freedom, and adolescent sexuality were hot topics. This was the time of the Civil Rights Movement, the birth of the hippie counterculture, and the wild popularity of rock bands like the shaggy-haired Beatles. You know about the 1960's-it was a decade when moral and social conventions were being challenged left and right, and the rush of American optimism and materialism after World War II was being questioned. The story is set in 1960's middle-American, and the ideological turmoil of the times simmers just below the surface. Part of what makes Oates's story so deeply affecting is that it deflects most of the attention away from the would-be killer-who is still rendered as being totally terrifying-and directs attention to the victim, Connie, and her humdrum suburban existence. What stuck with her was "the disturbing fact that a number of teenagers-from "good" families-aided and abetted his crimes" ( Source). So what prompted Oates to pen this little tale? Was she fascinated by the twisted psychology of murderers?
#Where are you now cover serial
Included in literary anthologies of great fiction, and was even adapted into a popular 1986 film, Smooth Talk, starring Laura Dern.Īccording to Oates, the story was inspired by a Life magazine story about the serial killer Charles Schmid, who, like the story's villain, was an older man who preyed on adolescent girls. Maybe you'll be puzzling over the hidden meaning-what do the numbers on the side of Arnold Friend's convertible mean? Or maybe you'll just be steamrolled by the bleak-yet-transcendent ending.Īnother option? Being-like us-affected by all of the above.įirst published in 1966, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" became an instant classic. Maybe you'll be forever creeped out by the unforgettable antagonist.
Maybe you'll be blown away by the psychological depth of the main character. Here's the spooky fact: it's pretty hard to get through even an Intro to Lit college class without coming across Joyce Carol Oates's eerie " Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" And once you do, it's downright impossible to forget. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Introduction