Short Story

Oates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 6th Compact Edition. New York: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2010. 380-391. Print.

This short story by Joyce Carol Oates takes place during the summer, and 15-year-old Connie spends much of her time lounging around the house, going out with friends, and meeting boys. One night a strange guy makes a threatening gesture to her in the parking lot of a local drive-in restaurant. She thinks nothing of it until one Sunday afternoon, when the rest of her family attends a barbecue at an aunt's house, leaving her home alone.The strange guy pulls up in her driveway in a gold-colored car, accompanied by a friend. The driver introduces himself as Arnold Friend and asks Connie to join him for a ride. During the course of their conversation, Connie realizes that Arnold is a threat. Arnold's language becomes more sexually explicit and violent, and he threatens to harm her family if she calls the police. Connie makes a last-ditch effort to call the police, but panics and is unable to make the call. In the end, she leaves the house and joins Arnold. The story becomes a kind of coming-of-age dreamscape where evil (or Hades) arrives to corrupts the innocence (or Persephone). Death escorts the woman away from her childhood self, just as the maiden Kore becomes the Queen of the Underworld.