Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? By Joyce Carol Oates

Group 1:

             The story, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? By Joyce Carol Oates is dedicated to Bob Dylan because of a song that he wrote called “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue”. Both the song by Dylan and the story by Oates are loosely based on the true story of Charles Schmid, who preyed on and murdered three young girls in Arizona. Dylan’s song is very cryptic in its meaning, like a lot of songs can be, and I believe that Oates wanted to expand upon the ideas from his song by writing a story. I think that she dedicates it to him because she wanted to give him credit for inspiring her to write a longer version of his song.

Group 2:

               In the story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? By Joyce Carol Oates, Arnold Friend is a creepy older guy who tries to appear young in order to prey on young girls like Connie, the main character. He starts off just watching Connie at the diner, but then he says to her in passing, “Gonna get you, baby” which is a clue to what happens at the end of the story where he shows up at her house when she is alone. While at her house he tries to calmly convince her into getting in the car with him and his friend to go for a ride, but to no avail and that’s when he threatens her and talking very sexually. Arnold Friend is portrayed as a crazy predator who wants to rape Connie and in the way that he talks; she would not be his first victim.
        I think that Arnold Friend is a very appropriate name for this character because he is trying to convince her that he is her friend who is her age and doesn’t want to hurt her. Like when he says, “I wanta introduce myself, I’m Arnold Friend and that’s my real name and I’m gonna be your friend, honey…”. He tries to do everything he can to reassure Connie that he is an okay guy and that she shouldn’t be scared to go for a ride with him like the way he is dressed. Arnold Friend dresses in clothes that all the high school students wear to try to appear like people Connie’s own age and appeal to Connie because she likes the boys her own age that dress like that. He even talks to her in a sing-song kind of voice that is very calm and inviting. One of the very first thing that Connie notices is his car, it is a bright gold sports car of sort that has writing all over it including his name and the secret code 33, 19, 17. The significance of the car in the story is Arnold friend uses the writing on it to get her attention and the fact that he has a car is very appealing to Connie considering she is always wanting to get away.

Group 3:

            Connie is a rebellious young girl who sneaks away from the mall and goes out with boys and to a diner across the highway unbeknownst to her mother. Connie’s mother is very clueless as to her daughter’s actions and other life away from home. She rarely has a good thing to say about Connie and only hurts her relationship with her daughter by constantly nagging her and praising Connie’s older sister June. June is portrayed as her mother’s favorite and Connie’s complete opposite. I think that June resents Connie for being so pretty and popular with the boys and so does not try to have any relationship with her. June seems like a goody two shoes that would never do anything rebellious like Connie does. Oates does not give us a very big idea of the father, but she does tell us that he works, comes home, eats, reads, and rarely talks to anyone. He seems like a very selfish person that would rather have his peace and quiet than know what is going on with his own family. I think that Oates limits the role of Connie’s family because they are not very important in her story except for why she is so rebellious. Other than that they have little to do with the conflict of Arnold Friend and Connie.

Group 4:

         The setting of the story is very important in the sense that it portrays Connie’s constant struggle within herself to break free from all barriers like the small town she lives in. It also sends a message to the reader that even in a small town there can be danger. I think Oates chooses this setting because it could be any small town with a shopping plaza, diner and highway and the reader can relate to that. I also think that she chose it to incorporate some small details of the true story of Charles Schmid that inspired her to write this one. If you look up the Charles Schmid murders it was widely known that he use to hang out at a diner that backed up to a highway much the same as in the story.