Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been

In Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been I was very disturbed by the characters and their actions that they chose.  First off the main character Connie was a girl that was indulged in herself, but there was a lot more to her than just that one defining characteristic.  In the story she was described as being two sided about how she acted inside her house and outside her house, "Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home."  From here on we can see her as not being a typical teenage girl.  Another example of her not being typical was that she had an affinity with music.  At the drive in theater her joy wasn't due to being with Eddie or at the drive in; it might have been the music.  Connie is a very interesting character that I liked during the story.  What I didn't like about her was her unreasonable action to stay with those strange boys that seemed pretty ominous.  If any other girl were in that situation they would have left.  Her actions could have been caused by her not being like normal girls.

The story itself was very interesting due to its mystery and unanswered questions it left you with.  For example who was Arnold Friend and why was he there.  Why didn't Connie leave when she was getting bad vibes from the two boys.  All these questions are left unanswered in the end of the story.  Also the story gave underlying hints that the two boys might rape Connie.  In the beginning of the story in the drive in Arnold says "Gonna get you baby."  This phrase alone crept me out because if any stranger said that to me I would get as far away from him/her as possible.  Also the fact that he ended up showing up at the house where Connie lived crept me out even more.  What was the most creepy was Arnold's friend looking like a 40 year old baby.  This story was very eerie and left me quite unsettled by some of the characters.

Arnold Friend, or the biggest stalker alive is a very creepy character in this story.  His companion isn't any less creepy either because he is described as a 40 year old baby.  This creeper arrives at Connie's house without even asking Connie for her address.  To Connie, this man is a total stranger she saw at a drive in that said "Gonna get you baby," to her.  If this man arrived at my house mysteriously I would have the cops here in a heartbeat.  Oates does a great job at showing this man is not ordinary because Connie can't seem to leave his presence.  Also this man knew things about Connie that no stranger should know.  All these little details Oates gave this young man lets the reader know that they should feel worried for Connie's safety.  Arnold started to get even crazier towards the end by saying "Yes, I'm your lover. You don't know what that is but you will."  This is what led me to believe rape was going to occur in this story.  This man may be weird and violent but Connie still goes out to him in the end because he offers to take her away from her unhappy life.  This character intrigued me the most while leaving me with a sense that he was a very sick man.