Wow… This
may have been one of the most breath taking short stories I have read other
than Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.”
“Where Are You Going Where Have You Been” was one of the most thrilling
stories I have ever experienced. It kept
my heart pounding what was going to happen, and who Arnold Friend really is, or
really was. The way Connie described the
situation was that Arnold and his friend Ellie were older perverted men, and
just wanted to have their way with her.
This is the way Connie feels as a person. She feels that she is a sex object for other
guys. She puts that label on herself
though. The way she dresses anywhere but
home, the way she smiles and giggles anywhere but home, and the way she talks
to other guys. She walks into places
like the soda bottle diner wanting to be the center of attention.
This short
story really messes with your thought process.
The whole time you think Arnold is just some creepy stalker. Arnold knows Connie, all of her friends, her
family, etc. by detail. You think he is
going to bust through the door of Connie’s house and have his way with
her. Force her to have sex with him, and
brutally beat her. Then you realize
Arnold is just trying to help Connie out of a rut. Connie and her friends have dug themselves a
hole by flirting with all these different guys.
They have all created a general idea about these guys and feel like they
can do whatever they want to these guys, like they are invincible. Connie is so full of herself that she feels
trapped, not knowing what to do. When
she is with her friends, away from home, she is a much different person. When she is at home, and creepy old men show
up at her doorstep she has no idea what to do.
At first I
thought the ending of this book was really bad and that no connections were
made then I realized that the ending made perfect sense. Connie is so full of herself, being beautiful
and trying to get with all these guys that she does not realize the world
around her. She is trapped in la la land
chasing these guys around, she does not recognize her home, her family,
etc. Arnold Friend can merely just be a
figment of Connie’s imagination. A
person that she created to be a true friend, a friend that will help her out of
the rut that she is in, hence why his last name is Friend. You think he is going to rape her but he
truly just wants to show Connie the world around her. He kept saying that she knew him, maybe he is
her imaginary friend, or maybe he is even god.
