"Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?"

As I was reading this short story, the whole time I kept freaking out thinking of how much this “Arnold Friend” guy is a pedophile. Okay, I mean he keeps telling Connie to get in the car and go for a ride…creepy. Then he does not let her get to the phone. That is when you scream “RAPIST”. But now that we had a few discussions in class about the literary meaning behind this weird story, I can see that there are some interesting aspects to take note of.

First of all, I’d like to take note of the author’s reason for brining rock n roll into the story. Perhaps the author tries to get the audience to realize the importance of rock n roll in the 1960’s and the affect it has on society as a whole. Maybe a simple theme to come out of this would be that rock n roll is taking your children and everything they know. That rock n roll is Evil. This is depicted through the way Arnold dresses and how he speaks to Connie. He is a symbol for rock n roll. Therefore, we can say that rock n roll does all the things he does. “We ain’t leaving until you come with us” (Oates). This way Arnold tries to persuade Connie to leave her family and come with him for a ride. Through his bad manner and persuasion in a way he represents a loss of innocence. And since he is a symbol of rock n roll, Connie is being turned away from her youth of innocence into a bad adulthood, through the use of Arnold as influence.

Moreover, I think the door in a way seems as two options for Connie to take. She can either run and grab the phone to make a call, or she can step through the door. Making a phone call could symbolize her sense of youth and her wanting to get help from adults. This would represent that she is still an innocent child and is not ready to go into the real world where there is danger. If she was to step through the door (as she does at the very end), this would symbolize her loss of innocence. She would be ultimately defeated by Arnold and her morals would be changed. She would transition into adulthood.

With his deceptive looks and charming speech, Arnold persuades her to step through the door. “I’m your new lover honey” (Oates). As we can see, lyrics of traditional rock n roll songs are depicted in his speech. When he ultimately gets her to come with him, at that point Connie is transitioned into an adult woman. She gives up and is persuaded by Arnold to move on in her life. In a way this is a good thing because I guess at one point or another she needs to grow up. Perhaps she wanted to gain all this freedom all along and be out on her own.