The story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates was definitely not what I was expected to read. I thought this story is going to be light and funny by the begging of it. A story about family matters, or a love story maybe. Surprisingly I discovered that this story is very dark, and although in American stories you expect a happy ending, this one was a scary and sad one (since we anticipate what’s going to happen to Connie after she went with Arnold). Reading the critical overview of the story written by Rena Korb, the interpretation that touched me the most was “feminist allegory”. I find it true and very sad. The way Korb describes it in the article was very powerful: “When Connie, the innocent female, walks out of the house to meet what may be her demise, she also represents the spiritual death of women at the moment they give up their independence to the desire of the sexually threatening male”. Although there is much more awareness of it nowadays, there are still a lot of young girls and grown women who try to satisfy men’s desires, even if it’s not what they want. When men use their power over women in sexual situations to get what they want, many females feel weak and as if they need to obey. We see women get raped on the news all the time, and people blame them for being too sexual and highly maintained. As Connie in this story. She does put a lot of attention to physical appearance, but that is what she cares about as a young girl, and shouldn’t get punished for it.
Daily Archives: November 16, 2022
In my opinion, I agree with the perspective that it is an inverted fairytale. In a stereotypical fairytale, there is usually some kind of princess who needs to be saved by some kind of prince, knight, or mysterious man. Then he takes her away, they fall in love, they ride off into the sunset, and live happily ever after. The story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” has similar components with a very different outcomes. This story’s princess, Connie, while feels isolated from her family and misunderstood, she does not want to be with them. However, she does not want to be taken from them. Especially not by Arnold Friend. In this case, Arnold Friend is the “savior: He is the mysterious dark fiure that is going to take Connie away. Except in this story, they aren’t in love and he is taking her by force. And they don’t end up happily ever after.
