What do you think happens at the ending of "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been," which is left somewhat open?By Joyce Carol Oates.

There are a few literary devices in "Where Are You Going,
Where Have You Been" that give clues to what Connie thinks her fate will be, which may
be considered equivalent of what the author, Joyce Carol Oates, wants the reader to
think Connie's fate will be. There is also one thing that Connie, as a young woman
still, does not take into account that has the potential to materially alter her final
ultimate fate.

Some of the literary devices that provide
clues are the narratorial tone, mood, character reaction, and character development. The
narratorial tone is that of oppression, despondent oppression. It foretells of upcoming,
irreversible doom indicating that Connie will be abducted and mistreated by Arnold.
Connie's reactions, which are part of the plot development as her movements rise to the
climactic action, depict a young woman frozen to inner immobility who has abdicated
through terror her volition to act on her own behalf from her own accord. This foretells
that Connie will have no courage, no strength to resist or flee or
fight.

The ominous mood of the story, established in part
through the remarks Arnold and Ellie make and the desolation of the house Connie is in,
corroborate the narratorial tone described above. The character development that
unfolds in the midst of this tone and mood and through Connie's reactions are dramatic
and sudden. She goes in a very short time from being a casual young woman who thinks of
music and vanity with insignificant quarrels and conflicts of will with her parents to
being a frightened, horrified, trapped, oppressed young woman who understands neither
what she finds herself accosted by nor what it is in her power to do in response to the
mentally violent horror confronting her. Connie has within a few moments dropped into a
deep trauma response, which foretells of an inability to respond in any way other than
to do as bidden. This is why Oates describes Connie's experience of watching herself act
without feeling as if she is part of body or her
actions.

Connie faces doom. However the one thing that
Connie has overlooked, which may have been of no help to her in the moment even if she
had remembered it, is that her parents will fight to find her and get her back. So even
though Connie, alone in a house and up against violence of thought and manner that she
has never encountered before, may have her immediate fate sealed for her, her ultimate
fate may be kinder when her parents find and rescue her.