Where Have You Been Allusions

Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been” without a doubt has an ambiguous ending. Many critics support Joyce Weg’s argument that "Arnold is… a symbolic Satan", some compare his physical traits to Satan claiming his “feet resemble the devil's cloven hoofs” (Weg and Urbanski, n.p.) Oates has confirmed the many allusions in the story. Some critics like Bruno Bettelheim correctly point out the allusions to other famous fairy tales like “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Three Little Pigs”, comparing Arnold’s Satan-like hoofs to wolf paws and the description of Connie’s home as a “cardboard box [Arnold] can knock down at any time” (Oates, 11). In all the correlations between stories, the argument presented is always the same;

Connie was often criticized by her mother who told her to “stop gawking at [her]self” (Oates,1) This criticism towards one’s own daughter demonstrates that Connie and her mother do not have a healthy relationship. Her mother always talks of Connie’s sister, June, whom Connie is tired of “hear[ing] praised all the time” (Oates, 1). Connie’s thoughts of June portray Connie’s jealousy towards her and her mother’s praise and acceptance. Connie’s jealousy may cause inner conflict that would subsequently result in a desire to be free of such feelings and that “it [is] all over” (Oates, 1) This is significant because for a long time storytelling has been one way of “sharing one’s feelings in an infinite number of ways… [which] makes storytelling the most influential and important tradition to society today” (Eder, 1). Connie may have imagined an entire scenario- about an unexpected visitor coming to take her away- and free her from the current life she dislikes. Similarly, Alice gets made fun of and criticized a lot in Wonderland. In one instance she is mistaken for a serpent by a mother pigeon protecting her eggs. Alice becomes frustrated as the pigeon will not listen to her, she insists that Alice plans to eat her eggs to which Alice responds that “little girls eat eggs as much as serpents do” (Dodgson, 22). Alice’s response Pidgeon will not listen resulting in Alice having a tantrum-

In Oates’s short story Connie has an equivocal personality. Oates writes that “everything about [Connie] had two sides to it” (Oates, 1). This description means that Connie has two distinct personalities. Connie “wore a pull-over jersey blouse that looked one way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home" (Oates, 1). This description displays Connie's distinct personas, outside of home Connie would flirt with boys and lie about her whereabouts, while at home she would feign obedience and “drew clear lines between herself ” and girls,like her, that her mother disapproved of(Oates, 3). Her behavior is different as well, at home "Connie's mother kept picking at her until Connie wished her mother was dead and she herself was dead" (Oates, 1). At home Connie has a negative view of her life, however, Connie feels the opposite outside of her home. This can be observed when Connie is walking to Eddie's car and feels "pure pleasure of being alive" (Oates, 1). Connie’s split personality, growing freewill, and desires littered “her mind… with trashy daydreams” (Oates, 1). One such daydream – or rather nightmare- is Arnold Friend. Connie decided against going to her aunt’s barbecue, consequently having more freedom at home as she is not being watched. This increase in freedom led to Connie imagining Friend in her driveway. He "is