Character Analysis in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

Joyce Carol Oates is a natural-born writer, she has had a passion for writing even before she was able to read. She attended Syracuse University with a scholarship and as her success grew, so did her popularity. Oates’s’ clever short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” contains two very different characters that help represent the harsh realities of growing up as a young woman.

Arnold friend seems like an insignificant character at the beginning of the story but eventually unfolds at the end, depicting an inhuman persona. This is revealed through the details and clues within Oates’s work. Arnold’s odd name slightly resembles two phases that are too of a coincidence to not match his characteristics. “An old fiend” and “archfiend”, can mean the devil. Arnold also knows way too much information about Connie and her family that only a higher power could know, “I know your name and all about you, lots of things” (Oates 511). He also stood quite strangely which could imply that he had hooves as feet, “ One of his boots was at a strange angle, as if his foot wasn’t in it” (Oates 514). Arnold said the number 33, 19, and, 17 to Connie as he was trying to persuade her to come out of her house, “Now these numbers are a secret code, honey” (Oates 510). These numbers could mean the thirty-third book within the bible, chapter nineteen, verse seventeen which reveals the title of the story “Where are you Going, Where Have You Been?”. Or if you add up all the numbers it’s equivalent is sixty-nine and that could be Arnold’s true intentions with Connie. Arnold is a static character he does not change and he resembles the villain in this story.

Connie is an innocent teenage girl trying to live her very best life. She knows she beautiful and nothing like her mother and sister. She just wants to have fun with her friends and with boys. She’s somewhat rude to her mother but what can you expect from a teenager. You can say she lives two different lives, she acts one way when she’s with her family and another way when shes out with her friends. “She wore a pull-over jersey blouse that looked one way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home. Everything about her had two sides to it, one from home and one for anywhere that was not home..” (Oates 507). Connie thought she was better than her mother and sister because she was pretty, “she knew she was pretty and that was everything” (Oates 506). Connie is a dynamic character and the hero in this story because she changes from a stuck up fifteen-year-old to a better version of herself. She sacrifices herself for the sake of her family’s safety even if it meant she wasn’t returning home when she leaves with Arnold.

Furthermore, the devil eventually strips women of their innocence as they enter adulthood in many ways showing them the bitter truth that comes with growing up, making women cautious of what they wear and who’s attention they attract. As many of us may know the devil’s intentions are never good which is why he tries to take Connie as well as her innocence. This will make her grow up and mature quickly and not entirely in a good way. 

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