Where have been? Where are you going?

In Sharold Oates' story, "Where have you been, where are you going?," Connie is the story’s main character in which the third person intimately looks into her thoughts and feelings.

The house, as Connie’s identity, is kind of like both her child hood and her secret identity. She puts on make up and nice clothes and accentuate her older features to pretend she is something she is not. When she goes home, she comes back to slip off her costume and retain this childlike identity for her family and herself. Essentially she is still 16, so when Arnold Friend comes a knocking, her first instinct is stranger-danger cause he is meeting her at her secret identity.

I think Arnold probably takes her somewhere remote, probably where he can have his way with her. Or maybe even where he can show her off. Shortly after she got in his car, she was probably abused.

The setting functions as a reflection of the characters and their actions. A barren, country setting not far from the city reflects how her family is close and yet far from making real connections, all path blocked by selfishness or sarcasm. It also reflects the differences in Connie and her alter ego, the woman she wants to be seen as and the little girl she still very much is. The complications of her night ego slip into the day world of her child identity when Arnold comes knocking.