Joyce Carol Oates "Where Are You Going, Where Have you Been?"


Who is Joyce Carol Oates? 

Oates in her hometown in 1949: 11 years old (1). 
Joyce Carol Oates is an American writer. She was born on June 16, 1938 in Lockport, New York. She lived on her parents farm and enjoyed living in a farm country environment. Ever since she was younger, she showed a great interest in reading and writing. She started her writing journey at the ripe age of fourteen years old. That is how old she was when her grandmother provided her first typewriter. Since receiving her typewriter, she wrote many novels throughout high school and college. Although her parents were not very educated, they supported her and pushed her to strive for excellence within her own education. Throughout her education, she did just as her parents wanted. She graduated valedictorian of her class and attended Syracuse University on a scholarship to study English. She earned her masters in one year at Wisconsin University. (1). 


THE SHORT STORY 👉  link to the short story 

Charles Schmid (3)
"Where Are You Going, Where Have you Been" is a short story by Oates that gives us an idea of a fifteen year old girl seeking validation. The fifteen year old girls name is Connie. She always takes pride in her appearance and is often fighting or angry with her mother. Her mother always harps on her to be more responsible like her older sister, June. Connie's father is often working and rarely sees his daughters, that is where we can guess the validation seeking comes in. The one thing that Connie enjoys about her life is the fact that she is able to go out with her friends. She does take this sense of freedom for granted however. Her and her friend get dropped off at a plaza but sneak across the highway to meet boys. On one of the nights, Connie catches the attention of a man named Arnold Friend who drives a gold convertible. He stares at her in an uncomforting way and makes a sketchy remark to her. She walks away uncomfortably and thinks she will never see him again. One day, Connie decides to skip a family barbecue and stays home alone. A little while later, a man in a gold convertible pulls into her driveway and it just so happens to be Arnold Friend. She portrays a lack of interest and continuously tells him to leave. He begs and begs in a manipulating way and eventually starts to threaten her and even her family. She decides to leave with Arnold and what happened after that is history. Many readers predict that she was raped or murdered. Oates did not come up with this story on her own. Her short story was based on a real life event that she was fascinated by. There was a murder and rapist on the loose in Tucson, Arizona. He was known as Charles Schmid and was arrested at the age of twenty three years old. He performed actions similar to those of Arnold Friend such as dressing like the younger generation and driving flashy cars. (2). 


The cover of the film (4) 
THE FILM 

In 1985, there was a release of the film "Smooth Talk." This film is based off of the short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Laura Dern is the actress that plays Connie and Treat Williams plays the role of Arnold Friend. The film is directed by Joyce Chopra. (5) The film organizationally tends to follow the sequence of the short story almost identically. The ending is where there is a little twist added. In the short story, we are left hanging a little bit and only know that Connie went with Arnold Friend. On the other hand, in the movie Connie returns home before her family does from the barbecue. She reassures her mother that everything is okay and accepts her apology for getting slapped in the face earlier. She also rejects to tell her sister June what happened and just dances with her. In the short story, we are not told what happens between her and Arnold Friend. Essentially, we don't know what happened in the film either. In the scene after Arnold and Connie leave her house, we are only showed Arnold's gold convertible in a field. 

Interactions of Connie and Arnold Friend



Works cited 

(1) Joyce Carol Oates. Academy of Achievement. (2022, August 22). Retrieved April 10, 2023, from https://achievement.org/achiever/joyce-carol-oates/ 

(2) “." Literature and Its Times. . Encyclopedia.com. 12 Apr. 2023 .” Encyclopedia.com, Encyclopedia.com, 14 Apr. 2023, https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/where-are-you-going-where-have-you-been. 

(3)“." Literature and Its Times. . Encyclopedia.com. 12 Apr. 2023 .” Encyclopedia.com, Encyclopedia.com, 14 Apr. 2023, https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/where-are-you-going-where-have-you-been.

(4) “Smooth Talk.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 15 Nov. 1985, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090037/.

(5)Canby, Vincent. “Film: 'Smooth Talk,' from Joyce Carol Oates Tale.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 28 Feb. 1986, https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/28/movies/film-smooth-talk-from-joyce-carol-oates-tale.html.

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