Oates’ “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?”

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Table of Contents

Background
Support
Result
Disagreeing with reason
Conclusion
Work Cited

Background

The focal point of the paper is to present an analysis and evaluation of the short story by Joyce Carol Oates named Where Are You Going Where Have You Been? This story was first published in the Fall issue of Epoch magazine in 1966. It was highly acclaimed in its time and was a part of The Best American Short Stories in 1967 and the O Henry Award Winners in 1968. The story was written for Bob Dylan and this makes the story even more captivating. Here we find Connie, as commented by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is on the verge of womanhood from a teenager when she met Arnold. A relationship starts between them and it affected Connie’s life more like the woman in her short story The Yellow Wallpaper, who was confined in her bedroom by her husband (Gilman, 113). This perception of Gilman is true to the core of the story as explained in this paper.

Support

Arnold’s approach to Connie was planned but he placed like an artistic jest with fallacies of philosophy. “Now, put your hand on your heart, honey. Feel that? That feels solid too but we know better. Be nice to me, be sweet like you can because what else is there for a girl like you but to be sweet and pretty and give in?—and get away before her people come back?” (Oates, 388-9) or for that matter lines like “I’ll have my arms tight around you so you won’t need to try to get away and I’ll show you what love is like, what it does. The hell with this house! It looks solid all right”. (Oates, 388) It is evident from these words that the actual intention was to emulate the philosophical concept of the time but the situation and the intention was completely materialistic in nature.

No matter how much Arnold poses as a carefree beat and a nihilist by uttering unconventional and anti-establishment ideas like “The place where you came from ain’t there any more, and where you had in mind to go is cancelled out. This place you are now—inside your daddy’s house—is nothing but a cardboard box I can knock down any time” (Oates, 387) it is all but evident that he was only taking advantage of the situation and the philosophy of the era.

Result

The doubts, dilemmas, and confusions were gradually, quite slowly indeed, giving way to a new and unique cultural revolution. It was happening all across the Western world. People suddenly seemed to realize that there was enough political warfare to disgrace humanity. The prevailing standards suddenly seemed to be meaningless, and the insurgent youths wanted something different to happen. This something took place in the form of nihilism and beat movement and the story depicts exactly this mood when an opportunist like Arnold took full advantage of the situation of Connie. He tried to justify his acts by yielding bizarre psyche and philosophies that were so relevant at the time among the mass culture.

Disagreeing with reason

However, Gilman is mistaken at a point. She mentioned that Connie’s life was affected by Arnold or he was a bad influence. But it should be noted that this story represents the idea and philosophy of the beat culture along with its attempt to change and ignore all traditional concepts. However, what comes out of the story is the lust of Arnold and the opportunity to blend the nihilist ideology of the era into personal satisfaction. In this context, it would be relevant to mention that the generation was not finding their existence worthwhile, or in other words, they wanted more out of their life for they hardly knew what to believe. They were not able to keep complete faith in religion and neither could they abandon it completely. It was also a regeneration time. Ideological conflicts and military interests were shaking civilization right up to its foundations. Thus, it is logical to believe that Connie herself was looking to get involved with Arnold and taste the salt of her era.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to state that at every revolution or time of renaissance there exist some elements who despite being a complete alien to the philosophy of culture of the time tends to gain substantial or marginal advantage out of the turmoil in the social, cultural and political scenario. These people are by no means a part of the developing culture and the only interest they have lies in the comparative benefit they can yield out of the given situation. Arnold is no different and his character is well depicted in the story where his ability is low and he seeks a benefit of low interest and he is satisfied with his gains. It can well be stated that are always some negative points in the time of change and people like Arnold are the individuals who are instrumental in incorporating those negative for their momentary and intangible benefits.

Work Cited

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. Collected Short Stories. NY: Dover Publications, 1999.

Lamb, Davis. Edited. Oates, Joyce C. Where Are You Going Where Have You Been. Selected Short Stories of the 20^th Century. Vol. VI. 1960-1969. Plymouth: HBT & Brooks Ltd. 2005.

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Oates’ “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?”

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