Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates Is Arnold Friend the Devil in disguise in Joyce Carol Oates' short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" If one were to look at the facts surrounding the actual event this story was based on, any assumption that "Friend" was anything but a man would be thrown out due to logic. However, if one were to look at the story alone, he could concede that Friend is indeed the Devil or at least the Devil's angel. First, there is the physical description of Arnold Friend. His "shaggy, shabby black hair that looked crazy as a wig," (591) his nose, "long and hawk-like," (592) and his eyes that "were like chips of broken glass" (592) all suggest that he is evil in some way. "His whole face was a mask, [Connie] thought wildly, tanned down onto his throat but then running out as if he had plastered make-up on his face but had forgotten about his throat" (596). This indicates that Friend is not of human race, and he is using the mask to cover his face and shield his true identity from Connie. Also, Arnold's boo...
The first time Arnold Friend is mentioned in the story is when Connie is leaving the restaurant and walking through the parking lot with a boy named Eddie. She sees a man in a gold convertible that is watchin...
Though, a significant area of difference comes from the description of his height and his charade to mask his small build. In the written version it speaks of Arnold being relatively wobbly or clumsy on his feet, the reason being his height, Arnold actually stuffs his rugged leather boots in order to appear taller than he truly is. Specifically, as he goes to step up on the front porch, “She looked to see Arnold Friend pause and then take a step toward the porch, lurching. He almost fell. But, like a clever drunken man, he managed to catch his balance. He wobbled in his high boots and grabbed hold of one of the porch posts.” The film never really gives any insight or physical cues that Friend isn’t steady on his feet, while the written rendition gives a brief cue but the true nature of his unsteady anor can only be discovered through reading the “Pied Piper of Tuscon” the article that led to the story. In every other aspect, Arnold Friend’s characterization is a direct match between the movie and story, down to the details of his car and suave
The story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates is about a fifteen year old girl named Connie who has a strange encounter with a man named Arnold Friend. I agree with Joyce M. Wegs' interpretation of the story, that Arnold is symbolic of Satan.
In the story “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” Arnold Friend is depicted as the antagonist of the book, trying to seduce Connie into going with him on a ride. He could be shown as an evil person intent on doing harm to Connie, but by the way Oates wrote the book you can almost feel the frustration building up in him as Connie keeps denying him the satisfaction of Connie saying yes. This can essence can be felt when Arnold Friend “wobbled again and out of the side of his mouth came a fast spat curse, an aside not meant for [Connie] to hear. But even this ‘Christ!’ sounded forced. Then he began to smile again,” As if Arnold friend is trying to hide something from Connie, “She watched this smile...
In the story “Where are you Going, Where Have you been?” Joyce Carol Oates tells us about a fifteen year old girl named Connie. Connie is confronted by a young man who is trying to persuade her to take a ride with him. He introduces himself as Arnold Friend and kindly asks her to come with him but she refused. He then threatens Connie and her family. She is then forced outside and leaves with Arnold Friend. Arnold Friend clearly symbolizes the devil through his physical traits, his knowledge of Connie, and his power over her kind of like he was hypnotizing her to go with him.
In this story characterization is used to capture the presence of evil in disguise. The majority of the imagery to capture this evil or to show a similarity to evil is used for the description of Arnold Friend’s appearance. Arnold Friend could be seen as a devil-like figure by his appearance. For example, one of the details in
Connie's actions also played a big role in her abduction. Connie liked to go out and hang out with guys. She liked to hang out with different guys, not the same one every night. Guys talk about girls like this and spread nasty rumors about them. These rumors probably did not escape the ears of Arnold Friend. So even before he saw Connie for the first time he probably had the idea that she was easy. He said as much towards the end of the story when he started naming people she knew and telling her that they told him things about her (Oates 983).
We know Arnold Friend, not personally, but we know his character. Arnold Friend stalked Connie throughout the story convinced that she was his lover; he used threats and smooth talk to coerce Connie to leaving her house and into Arnold friend, Ellie Oscar’s, car. Arnold Friend is like many serial killers our society has encountered the past century including Charles Schmid, Ted Bundy, and Charles Manson by how they target their victims, their charisma, and their influence over others. Charles Schmid is the serial killer that influenced Oates to write “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” he had killed three teenaged girls while dressing up to resemble Elvis Presley (“Serial: It’s Not Just For Breakfast”, Schumaier, 2002.) Arnold Friend resembles Elvis to with his black wig and sunglasses. Ted Bundy was a serial killer, rapist, necrophile, and kidnapper whom targeted young women. Bundy found his victims at a public place, such as a park, he would then use his charm to convince them leave the safety of the public area to a more secluded...
Arnold Friend’s layers of deception. Connie’s blindness is the pretext of her loss of innocence
The mysterious Arnold Friend goes to Connie’s house. He tries to convince Connie to take a ride in his car. Most people will deny the offer, but seeing as though Connie is unruly, she is easily persuaded by Arnold . Arnold deceives Connie with his charm and ride. He takes her to a place where she does not know. We find that Mr. Friend is not so friendly, but a sick soul with a loose tongue. In addition to this I agree with author Christina Marsden Gills of “Short Story Criticism, vol.6” when she explains that:
The narrator implies that Arnold Friend is Satan by giving certain clues that the reader can easily deduce. The name that Oates gives to the character is one hint to the reader: “Connie looked away from Friend's smile to the car, which was painted so bright it almost hurt her eyes to look at it. She looked at the name, Arnold Friend. She looked at it for a while as if the words meant something to her that she did not yet know” (583). The name “friend” was commonly used by the Protestants to refer to evil or the devil. Moreover, Arnold Friend's appearance also hints that he is Satan: “There were two boys in the car and now she recognizes the driver: he had shaggy, shabby black hair that looked as a crazy wig”(583). The narrator emphasizes the “wig” to make the reader think that he is wearing it for a purpose, which is hide his devil’s horns. Also, the fact that Arnold Friend's eyes are covered is another stragedy use by Oates to confirm the assumption of the diabolic presence: “ He took off the sunglasses and she saw how pale the skin around his eyes was it, like holes that were not in shadow but in...
Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” tells the tale of a fifteen year old girl named Connie living in the early 1960’s who is stalked and ultimately abducted by a man who calls himself Arnold Friend. The short story is based on a true event, but has been analyzed by many literary scholars and allegedly possesses numerous underlying themes. Two of the most popular interpretations of the story are that the entire scenario is only dreamt by Connie (Rubin, 58) and that the abductor is really the devil in disguise (Easterly, 537). But the truth is that sometimes people really can just be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Connie, a victim of terrifying circumstance will be forever changed by her interactions with Friend.
Arnold Friend could possibly be a symbol of the devil. Friend tries to be kind and tells Connie he will take care of her and everything to try and get her to come with him. Oates says, “His whole face was a mask, she thought wildly, tanned down onto his throat…”; this could symbolically be connected with the devil. The devil would never be out in the open he would be in disguise. McManus also talks about how Friend is related with the devil. “Friend’s suggestion is that if Connie’s house was on fire, that she would run out to him, may also suggest symbolism. Fire being associated with devil.” This is a great symbol of Friend and the devil because fire is most definitely associated with the
Joyce Carol Oates' short story "Where are you going? Where have you been?" 'runneth over' with Biblical allusion and symbolism. The symbols of Arnold Friend, his disguise, and the music that runs through the story contribute to an overall feeling of devilishness, deception, and unease.
"Connie, don't fool around with me. I mean—I mean, don't fool around," he said, shaking his head. He laughed incredulously. He placed his sunglasses on top of his head, carefully, as if he were indeed wearing a wig…” (Oates 6). Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” highlights an altercation, meeting, conflict and dispute between a teenage girl, named Connie, and a psychotic rapist named Arnold Friend. Throughout their altercation, Arnold Friend tempts and encourages Connie to get in the car with him and lead her to a variety of possible dangerous situations, one of which includes her getting raped . There is no doubt that Joyce Carol Oates’ uses Arnold Friend in her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” to symbolize the Devil and embody all of the evil and sinister forces that are present in our world. This becomes apparent when the reader focuses on how deranged Arnold Friend is and begins to