Discuss any parallelism between Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” and any of the versions of the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood.”

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is a classic short story written by Joyce Carol Oates. The story explores themes of trust, sexuality, and religion.
In the story, Connie, a young and beautiful teenager, is obsessed with her looks. She does not get along well with her family members, especially her older sister, who is somewhat mousy and still lives at home with the family.
Connie is interested in boys, and things change for her when she meets a stranger named Arnold Friend. He is older and charismatic. As the story progresses, Connie realizes that Arnold Friend might actually be way older than she is and possibly dangerous.
This story can probably be related to many traditional fairy tales. "Little Red Riding Hood," which has versions written by Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, is one that stands out as a definite parallel. In this story, a young girl, Little Red Riding Riding Hood, ventures into the forest to visit her grandmother. She is naive about the element of fear that lurks in the forest and almost ends up getting eaten by a wolf who is wearing her grandmother's clothing.
Both Connie and Red are naive characters. They are both too trusting of strangers. Connie willingly gets into a car with Arnold Friend, believing that he is only eighteen and a boy that she might like. Red notices her grandmother's changed physical features, stating, "What big ears you have" and so on, but she doesn't take into consideration that it might not really be her grandmother.
It is assumed that Arnold Friend is a predator and possibly even the Devil. The ending to "Where Are You Going" is ambiguous, but many assume that Connie gets hurt or even dies. Although Red doesn't die, she is nearly preyed upon. The wolf in general gets his reputation as a predator. When portrayed in the musical Into the Woods, his character is more of a sexual predator, singing the song "Hello, Little Girl."
With Red, the forest is the unknown and dangerous area to be, whereas staying at home is supposed to be safe. The same goes for Connie. She is safe inside her home, until she feels compelled to leave with the threatening Arnold Friend at the end of the story.
Both stories can be seen as classic cautionary tales.