Joyce Carol Oates' Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? - A Tale of Deception and Mythology

"Where are you going, where have you been?" by oats is a story by Joyce Carol Oates that narrates how a fifteen-year-old Connie meets the deceptive friend called Arnold. Connie lies to her family that she goes to the movies but instead sneaks around to a drive-in restaurant to meet with boys. She meets Arnold Friend at the drive-in who later tricks and forces her to hang out with him never to return to her home. In creating this story, Oates based her narration on mythology, music, and the culture of the modern world.

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In the mythical perspective, Connie is compared to Persephone, a young goddess who is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Persephone is kidnapped by Hades, the underworld god, making her mother Demeter to send draught to make the land barren (Blackford 31). Hades complied with the order to return Persephone but again tricked her into eating a pomegranate before she strangely left to return to the underworld. Connie, in Oates' story, is also mysteriously initiated and awkwardly inches towards adulthood as she tries to maneuver her way past her mother's obstacles and roadblocks on her paths. Connie's life discovers the dynamics between sexuality and death. Oates points the finger at the modern culture through blending mythological characteristics of Persephone with rock music and the stubbornness of Connie, also highlighting the traits of the modern youths.

Connie and Arnold Friend represent modern mythical characters. Connie represents the naive Persephone while Friend the sinister Hades. Friend is described with the contemporary interpretation of the devil rather than an underworld god making it easier for the reader to understand who the characters indeed are. The author describes the underworld god that Friend is using modern characteristics such as makeup on his face, his declaration that he knows everything and anything, strange walking style with hair like a wig, and the rock music that he plays in his car.

The author, Oates, confessed that the inspiration behind the story is Bob Dylan's song "It's all over now Baby Blue." The first stanza of the song goes "Yonder stands your orphan with his gun, crying like a fire in the sun" (Dylan). The orphaned child represents Arnold's friend, who is a symbol of both innocence and danger. Connie mirrors Arnold's double faceted character of childishness and dangerous aggression. Additionally, in the book, Friend refers to himself as Connie's lover, which is the same as the line in the song "Your lover who just walked out the door" (Dylan). The lyrics in the song exposes most phrases and ideas that also match those of the story.

The story "Where are you going, where have you been?" by Oates is based on the narration on mythology, music, and the culture of the modern world. What can be drawn from the story is that the degree of one's personality is not drawn from within but instead is shaped by external circumstances. The story is told using modern figures to make the reader understand when it is deeply founded on the old mythological stories. Connie falls a victim when she resorts to getting satisfaction from outside her household.

Work Cited

Blackford, Holly. "Maiden, Mother, Mysteries: The Myth of Persephone in The Secret Garden." Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden: A Children's Classic At 100 (2011)Dylan, Bob. "It's All over Now, Baby Blue (Audio)." YouTube, 11 Mar. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4HW33SgZlM. Accessed 22 Apr. 2020.

Oates, Joyce Carol. Where are you going, where have you been? Rutgers University Press, 1994.