Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

The short story by Joyce Carol Oates “Where are you going, Where have you been?” is one that has had many interpretations over there years, by many literary critics and readers alike, generating a vast list of themes and meanings to the story. Some have declared the story to be a “feminist allegory,” while others argue that one of the main characters, Arnold, is a “savior” or “messiah figure,” as popular figures during the 1960’s were to young girls like Connie, the main character. Though many interpretations have been made, and all of them equally important and worth being discussed, there is one that brings the theme of this story to a new level. It gives the story a meaning while stating that in the story itself, Connie is in a world of meaninglessness: from the absence of God, the lack of love in her home life, to her obsession with prettiness. This interpretation