“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is a thrilling and captivating story that can leave the reader with a few different impressions simultaneously. When I read this, I initially thought of it as a coming of age story with a terrifying twist. Ultimately, I look at it as a representation of the defeat of women by men because of gender inequality.
I enjoyed reading the details of all the interpretations in the article by Rena Korb. I see how they can all be applied to the story. I did not consider the “inverted fairytale” interpretation with Arnold assuming the role as the devil. It is apparent by the way he psychically knew this information about Connie and her family, and his name being so similar to “archfiend.” I can see how it can also be perceived as an “initiation into an evil, depraved American culture.” However, the writing is strongly gender specific with Connie’s obsession of keeping up with a beauty and behavioral standard society has engrained in her; and the type of predatory evil she faces. I think this story is an initiation into evil for specifically a female. I do side most with the “feminist allegory” interpretation, but all of these themes blend together.
3 thoughts on “Victoria Santagato Discussion 14”
Hi Victoria, good analysis. I agree with you that this story can leave the reader with different impressions each time. This can sometimes be confusing. Indeed, gender inequality can be a way of interpreting this story as you did in your post. I agree that the writing used is strongly genre-specific
Teddy, it’s not enough to just reiterate a colleague’s ideas and agree with them.
Victoria, thanks for this very thoughtful post in which you weigh the different interpretations put forward by Korb. You make a very strong case for a feminist reading of the story. I like the inverted fairytale idea partly because it’s interesting to find all the fairytale references in the story, which include “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Cinderella,” and “The Three Little Pigs.” There may even be more that I haven’t gleaned.