Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Themes

At the core of Oates's "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is a struggle over the nature of sexuality. The story is set in 1960s America, a time when sexual mores were being questioned, ad...

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" wrestles with some of the oldest Big Questions in the history of humanity. What is the nature of evil? Why is there suffering in the world? Why do bad t...

Most of the action in "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" takes place in the main character's home – or rather, right on the threshold, in the doorway of the kitchen, to be exact. By con...

Connie's family seems "normal" in the most conventional sense: a nuclear family with a stay-at-home mom and a working dad, children, and family barbecues on Sundays. But it's precisely this ordina...

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is set in 1960s America. That this setting so closely resembles our own is not surprising, given how much of American society can be traced back to the...