Short Story Sunday #1: Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been

Joyce Carol Oates' Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been is a household name in the world of contemporary short stories. The first time I read it, I had no idea of its widespread acclaim, but it struck a chord in my adolescent girly mind, as I imagine it did with teens who read it at its release, in the 1960s.

I remember scouring the internet for examples of short stories after receiving an assignment in senior-year Creative Writing. Dr. Walters asked us to author a descriptive narrative in 8-10 pages, and I hadn't the slightest idea how to make a story complete in that short amount of time. In that search for literary insight, I found this piece. This story was the first short story I ever read, and it has stuck with me ever since.

The story begins with a teenage girl who is vain and self-consumed, a character flaw  often synonymous with adolescent girls. She spends her evenings, when she is allowed out, cruising for boys at a local eatery, but is fated one night to meet a man who will soon obsess over her youthful looks. One day while she is home alone, this man arrives at her home, clearly taking his obsession to a frightful level. The story details their tense conversation as he tries to coax her into a joy ride in his gold sedan. The man's insistence begins to escalate, and by the end of the story, our outlook for the main character appears inevitably bleak.

There are several things that I enjoy about this story. For one, it takes the fantasy of a quintessential family of four and shakes the reader into reality - reality that there are bad people and bad decisions that can lead to a breakdown of that American dream. It strips away naivety and instead replaces it was the cold truth that we cannot just assume safety. Secondly, I appreciate the flicker of unknowing that Joyce Carol Oates uses so well in her writing. During one scene toward the end of this story, her vagueness lends the reader to a few theories of what might be going on, but it is never clarified. I love this kind of writing, because it is the kind of story that sticks in your mind, that forever begs the question, "What really happened?"

If you have never read this story, I strongly suggest you read it. It is a beautiful example of short story, and the main reason I love to read and write short stories above all else.

Here is a link to Joyce Carol Oates' website, where you may read the story for free:

http://www.usfca.edu/jco/whereareyougoing/