Joyce Carol Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been'

Joyce Carol Oates is an American author who has published not only short stories, but a number of plays, novellas, poetry and over forty novels. She was born in 1938 and published her first book in 1963. Her short story, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, first appeared in 1966. Oates dedicated this short story to Bob Dylan, and it has been recorded that she said this story, and Arnold Friend, was influenced by Dylan’s song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” Arnold Friend is not only based off of Bob Dylan, but also a man named Charles Schmid was said to be an influence on the character. In the sixties, Bob Dylan was considered to be otherworldly in some aspects, including his look and voice. Dylan mirrored Arnold Friend, the man who came to take connie away, in these physical aspects. Both men had wild hair, Friend was said to have looked like he was wearing a wig, and both men were relatively short which is why Friend was uneasy on his feet because he had stuffed his boots with something to make him look taller. Although Dylan might have mirrored the look of Arnold, Schmid was more like his personality. Charles Schmid was a serial killer in the

High-minded feminist principles won’t protect our daughters from predators, and Oates offers neither solutions nor apologies.” This comment is exactly right. Oates never apologizes for her dark story, and she doesn 't offer a solution either. Arnold Friend is a horrendous person who preys on innocent young girls, and even with Connie’s mom scolding her for looking in the mirror too much and telling her to be more like her sister it never makes an impact. Nothing can protect a girl from a predator, and that’s just the sad truth about it. No amount of scolding or warning could have saved Connie. She wanted to be a woman and she got it, unfortunately it wasn 't the fantasy she thought it would