Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?": Growing up Too Fast

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?": Growing Up Too Fast

In the short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Joyce Carol Oates describes an insecure young girl named Connie, eager to find her independence. At the fragile age of fifteen, this character is focused on beauty, boys, and becoming a woman. She isolates herself from her family and is ever trying to escape from the familiar shelter of her youth by seeking attention from boys and daydreaming. The principal notion behind this short story is that a young woman's haste to leave the comfort and safety of her adolescence can have dire consequences.

There are several symbols which help to illustrate the foolish desire for young Connie to abandon the security of her youth. Music is existent throughout the story as a vehicle that transports Connie from her real life to her fantasy adult life. Her lack of life experience leads her to establish concepts of what life and love is all about based on songs. Consequently she is able to relish in a delighted feeling whenever she allows her mind to be taken away with the music. Oats exhibits this when she writes, "...her face gleaming with a joy that had nothing to do with Eddie or even this place; it could have been the music" (Oats 584). She uses music as an escape from her fifteen year old life and consents it to take her mind to a place she would rather be. She is distracted by the circumstance that Arnold Friend is listening to the same radio station as she and lets her guard down. Arnold Friend is a symbol of all of the fears and uncertainties of a young girl's journey to becoming a woman. He robs her of youthful innocence virtually in a moment when the conversation begins to turn dark. She soon discovers that what she has so desperately been seeking is not at all what she thought it was.

The story shows the reoccurring notion that everything surrounding Connie is giving her the opportunity to linger under the blanket of security that is her youth. Whether it is the fact that she is dependent upon her father for rides to the movies, or the point that she is only given the freedom to do so because her older sister does the same with her friends, Connie is frequently reminded of her adolescence. Even in the moment when her youthful innocence begins to be stolen from her, Arnold Friend, speaks to her as though she is a child saying "That's a good girl. Now you come outside" (Oats 557). Connie finds herself surrounded by a world of maturity and longs to feel a part of this world.

Notes of irony occur as the plot unfolds in "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" One of such instances is when Connie's mother seemingly puts her down. Her mother spouts complaints such as; "Stop gawking at yourself. Who are you? You think you are so pretty?" (Oats 547). These harsh words can be taken as abusive,