Where Are You Going
Rudyard Kipling once said that “[if] history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Many authors leave an impressive impact on the world through their works of fiction, but when an author can craft a fiction story that contains truth, it is a work of genius. This method allows people to retain the knowledge easier, and allows the impact to be lasting. This is just what Joyce Carol Oates did in her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by using parallelism, allegories, and symbolism.
Joyce lived a modest life with her parents and two siblings in Lockport New York. According to an article on Biography.com entitled “Joyce Carol Oates,” she always loved reading, and even before she
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Connie hangs out with her friends at the local burger shop and encounters a young man with “shaggy black hair.” This young man appears to be the same age as her and her friends. The story then goes on to say her family left for a barbecue, and she decided to stay home. Connie, home alone hears a truck pull up and looks outside to see a “gold jalopy” in her driveway. This golden truck belongs to a man that goes by Arnold Friend. He steps out of the truck and proceeds to engage in a conversation with Connie. At this point she recognizes him as the man from the night before. They conversation leaves Connie feeling discombobulated. When she tries to escape his presence he comes into her home and the “nice guy” facade begins to crumble. The story ends with Connie being taken by Arnold into a land she had always looked at, but never truly seen. She obliged to leave so that her family would not suffer. Throughout the conversation between Arnold and Connie, she noticed Arnold wears makeup and stuffs his boots to appear younger. He also tries to relay a younger age by using the same slang as the youth of that time. At first, the facade holds and she feels comfortable around him, but when she notices the cracks in his appearance, she becomes anxious and