Pushing Tension

In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates joins telling details and character development with dialogue to build a sense of tension that entices readers to follow the mounting action in this story’s chilling plot. From the first sentence, Oates introduces Connie in conjunction with an internal conflict that creates the initial tension, saying, “She had a quick nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other peoples faces to make sure her own was all right.” Oates then builds a plot around this character’s internal insecurities by increasing tension with every subsequent detail or piece of dialogue. Oates introduces conflict with the mother and the mother’s preference for the sister through the mother’s character saying, “What the hell stinks? Hairspray? You never see your sister using that junk.” The unrest in family life pushes Connie to seek attention on the streets where she first sees the jalopy convertible and the “boy with the shaggy hair” that foreshadows the dreadful ending she will meet. In this scene, the Oates uses foreboding details like the boy’s “wagging finger” and dark dialogue like “’Gonna get you, baby’” to interrupt Connie’s blissful sensation of “the pure pleasure of being alive” in a way that promises readers an impending struggle for Connie’s youthful innocence. Finally, as the tension reaches its peak when the boy confronts Connie outside of her house, Oates disperses inconsistencies through details like the room becoming unfamiliar and the boy seeming to age as the conversational dialogue becomes increasingly dark and violent. All of these images combine with the suggestive dialogue to excite the most tension for the climax of the story.