Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
By Joyce Carol Oates was an ok story. I personally
did not really like this story all that much. I thought that this was an
extremely creepy story. Not like creepy scary but like creepy weird. I thought
that something seriously bad and wrong was going to happen to Connie. I think
Arnold wanted to kidnap her. He was really convincing to her too even though he
let Connie be in control. He let Connie call all the shots. He said you can
come with me or you can wait until your family comes home and they will suffer.
He also did not let her get a phone or he was coming in. So he let Connie make
the decision. I think it is really weird when he said he knew all that stuff
about her. Right from that point on it gets really creepy. I did not like this
story mainly because of the creepiness. I think if it was a little less
stalkerish and crazy it would have been good. But that was the authors
intention I suppose. I think the author picked a really good name for the
story. This title has a lot of meaning behind it and gets you thinking about
the story. I think that the title is saying that Connie cannot go anywhere
anymore and that she is stuck with him. Arnold says in the end, “The place where
you came from ain't there any more, and
where you had in mind is canceled out.” This is saying that you can’t go
anywhere anymore and that Connie is stuck with him. He also mentions that she
is the one that he has been looking for and that could be the meaning behind
the second part of the title. I would only recommend reading this story if you
are into the creepy weird things.
