Reflections That Show the Hidden Truth The use of reflections is common in pieces of literature so that authors can incorporate hidden meaning behind simple actions in their works. For example the eyes are commonly known as the windows to the soul making the simple action of looking into another’s eyes much more complicated in a piece of literature(Schwartz). “Of course, the meaning of the words is that by looking into the eyes of a person one can see their hidden emotions and attitudes and thoughts” (Schwartz).
Also when the author makes a point to mention in detail items that have reflective surfaces they are inferring that there is a deeper meaning behind the reflection. In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? ” by Joyce Carol Oates, Oates shows the inner workings of Connie’s mind along with how easy it is for Arnold to break it by using abstract symbolism related to reflections. Throughout the story Oates uses reflections in an abstract way to reveal the protagonist’s-Connie- inner workings of her mind.
The first impression that is given of Connie after reading the beginning of the story quickly is that she is a shallow, conceited, and confident 15 year old teenager. However upon closer inspection and by using the many references to reflection in the short story they reveal Connie’s true personality and her hidden insecurities. Near the beginning Connie is constantly looking at her reflection in the windshields and at the faces of those around her so that she can see their reactions to her appearance (Oates 2). Connie is looking at her reflection to see if anything is out of place in her appearance since she last looked at herself.
This behavior can be considered a nervous habit that reveals Connie’s uncertainty in her appearance and the lack of confidence in her self-image which does not fit with the first impression of her that the audience has. When Connie is checking the faces of those around her to see their reactions it is because through their eyes Connie receives an understanding of their opinion of her (Schwartz). Thus if she sees appreciation and desire in their eves Connie gains confirmation that other people find her attractive allowing her to gain temporary confidence in her appearance.
Another interesting misconception regarding Connie is the amount of experience she has with the opposite sex, more specifically being the object of a boy’s lust filled thoughts and what they would do to her if they were allowed. This is evident when the narrator points out that, “… all the boys fell back and dissolved into a single face that was not even a face but an idea, a feeling, mixed up with the urgent insistent pounding of the music and the humid air of July” (Oates 2). In this quote Connie notices a commonality in the looks given to her by her admirers however she doesn’t know what they mean.
She also doesn’t fully understand her body’s reaction to the looks she gets Connie only knows the feeling is a pounding, urgent need for something and it makes her body hot (Oates 2). The fact that she could not recognize the lust in the looks from the boys as well as her own feelings of arousal in response to their looks show Connie’s lack of experience in relation to sexual activity. Connie’s ignorance regarding sexual activities and emotions that come along with them prove she is much more innocent and naive then first perceived.
Now even though Connie is much more innocent and naive than first thought she still has good common sense and instincts regarding the possibility of being in danger. This is proven when Arnold arrives at her house and tries to convince Connie to go for a ride with him, Connie-unable to get a good read on himstays within the confines of her house (Oates 4). In the short story the narrator states, “… because the glasses made it impossible for her to see just what this boy was looking at. She couldn’t decide if she liked him or if he was just a jerk, and so she dawdled in the doorway and wouldn’t come down or go back inside” (Oates 4).
Due to the sunglasses masking Arnold’s eyes Connie could not see if he was a threat to her or not, so her common sense and good instincts made the decision that she should rather be safe than sorry and resist her attraction to the bov. The final misconception to Connie’s inner workings of her mind is her selfishness. Throughout the story there is no indication that Connie had anyone important in her life that she would be willing to hold at a high level of priority than herself. It is evident that her relationship with her family was rocky meaning as far as Connie was concerned she only needed to look out for herself.
At first this presumption held true however near the end of the story this assumption is also proven false. Arnold gave Connie a dilemma-either she stays hidden in the house costing her family their lives, or she leaves with him willingly sparing her family’s lives (Oates 8). Without hesitation, though plenty of fear, Connie sacrifices herself for the sake of her family destroying the final assumption about her true character being selfish. With this it is proven that first impressions are not always true and even people who seem to have no depth to them can surprise another with more depth than first believed.
In this story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? ” Connie is perceived rather negatively however with the help of the abstract symbolism in relation to reflections the true inner workings of Connie’s mind is revealed. Though how Connie’s mind works is complicated and difficult to infer in the short story what is truly fascinating is the ease in which Arnold is able to break her mind. With the help of abstract symbolism related to reflections the ease that Arnold breaks Connie’s mind along with the build up to her broken mind can be shown.
Throughout the story Oates uses reflections to foreshadow the end result of the story and through reflections reveals more to the story using abstract symbolism. Near the beginning of the story Oates is already starting to slip in a feeling of encroaching darkness and danger. The narrator says, “The driver’s glasses were metallic and mirrored everything in miniature” (Oates 3). This quote reveals quite a bit about the driver before he is even introduced in the story such as the reflection off of the driver’s sunglasses represents the outlook he has on the world.
Since the sunglasses “mirrored everything in miniature” the driver’s perspective of the world is that he can do whatever he wanted with the world considering he believes that compared to him everything else is smaller and weaker (Oates 3). Before he is even introduced and with such a small statement this characterlater introduced as Arnold Friend-has already created a sense of foreboding and wariness towards him setting the foundation for his position as antagonist. Another reference to Arnold’s sunglasses prequels his obsession with Connie through abstract symbolism related to reflection that the narrator infers, “… he tiny metallic world in his glasses slowing down like gelatin hardening, and in the midst of it Connie’s bright green blouse” (Oates 4). In this quote the reflection off of the sunglasses represents Arnold’s own world where Connie is the only one who exists in it and Arnold -who is represented as the metallic world- is slowly enveloping her showing his intentions which is his wish to possess Connie completely. Such greed and obsession can already be seen before he has even introduced himself which tells the audience that the greed, obsession, and foreboding feeling Arnold gives off will only increase the deeper into the story they get.
Later in the story Oates uses incredible symbolism related to reflections to foreshadow the end result of Arnold’s obsession and delusions regarding Connie. The narrator reveals, “His eyes were like chips of broken glass that catches the light in an amiable way” (Oates 5). After Arnold shows Connie his eyes by taking his sunglasses off she sees, instead of his soul, her own future which will be caused by Arnold. She sees her mind being broken by Arnold in the near future. The reason behind this is that the eyes are often considered the windows to the soul (Schwartz).
Of course, the meaning of the words is that by looking into the eyes of a person one can see their hidden emotions and attitudes and thoughts” (Schwartz). Also in the article “The Pupils are the Windows to the Mind” the eyes can also be considered windows to the mind. This means that since Arnold’s eyes looked like broken glass the window to his soul is broken so since the mind is considered the soul’s window it must also be broken. Since Arnold is looking at Connie she is actually seeing her future mindscape reflected back to her through his eyes which means it will be caused by Arnold.
Later near the end of the story this prediction is proven to be true. After being mentally cornered by Arnold Connie breaks into hysteric sobbing and after realizing that there was no escaping him her mind just broke (Oates 9). Her mind did not have the capacity to withstand such mental abuse -through the stress she was put under, her desperation to escape Arnold, and the sheer panic that such a thing was really happening to her- Connie’s mind simply overloaded and broke. At the end of the story the aftermath of Connie’s broken mind is shown when her mind or soul is separated from her body and it watches as her body moves towards Arnold.
Arnold gains control of her body because Connie’s body is now only a shell without it’s mind or soul, however even though Arnold may have captured her body he did not capture her mind or soul. The separation of Connie’s mind or soul from her body occurred as her mind or soul’s final desperate act to spare itself from more pain. In the end Arnold may have broken Connie’s mind but she still prevented him from winning fully since Arnold desired to possess Connie completely and in the end he only captured the shell that became of Connie without her mind or soul.
The short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates tells of the psychological tug-a-war between the protagonist Connie and the antagonist Arnold. More specifically the author’s use of reflections to describe the inner workings of Connie’s mind as well as the foreshadowing and buildup of the breaking of Connie’s mind. The reflections throughout the short story reveal Connie’s true personality and how her mind actually works. They show how first impressions are not always true and that even people who seem to have no depth can surprise another with more depth to them than first believed.
The reflections that describe the foreshadowing and buildup of the conclusion of Connie’s mind breaking primarily centers around Arnold. Also the reflections in the short story describes the foreshadowing and buildup of the breaking of Connie’s mind. These reflections reveal that even though Arnold won the final battle he did not fully win the war. In fact a complete win for Arnold would be possessing Connie completely in both mind and body. That however did not happen instead Connie, even with her mind broken, resisted Arnold and separated her mind or soul from her body.
This final act allowed Connie to have the last laugh and guaranteed that Arnold would never obtain all of what he desired. Without the help of the reflections and their abstract symbolism the short story would not have the same impact. The small nuances that the reflections represent would be lost, and the hidden side to the short story that requires intense analysis to uncover would be gone leaving only the skin of the short story that would not have any depth to it.
