Joyce Carol Oates, author of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, writes about Connie, a fifteen-year-old girl, and a mysterious character, Arnold Friend. In this story, Arnold attempts to persuade Connie to join him and his friend, Ellie Oscar, in his car. As the story progresses, Connie realizes that Arnold and Ellie should not be trusted, but ends up being forced to join them to protect her family. Evidence from the story including disguises, Arnold’s appearance, and the flies suggest that Arnold Friend is the devil. First, Arnold disguises himself similarly to the way the devil does. 1 Corinthian 11:14 states, “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” The devil tries to gain your trust by appearing safe, but it is all just a façade. Arnold also attempts to disguise himself; however, Connie was able to realize who he really was. In the story, …show more content…
Arnold puts his glasses on his head, and Connie notices how it seemed like he was wearing a wig (326). Also, the narrator says, “She watched this smile come, awkward as if he was smiling from inside a mask” (328). The story continues with a detailed explanation about how his face and neck are different colors as if he was wearing makeup. It is not clear if he was wearing a mask or just make up, but it is obvious that he was trying to hide his face to cover up something. Maybe he is trying to hide his actual age, which he says is 18. However, Connie realizes that he is about thirty years old (325). He also dresses like a teenager by wearing tight jeans, boots, and white shirt, and he is trying to fit in by listening to the same station Connie is listening to when he arrives, XYZ Sunday Jamboree (320, 325). Why would he do this? He wants to gain Connie’s trust by trying to act her age just like the devil appears to be an angel. Based on his appearance, Arnold is also trying to cover up that he is not actually human, which is another important piece of evidence.
Children learn about the devil as a terrifying creature with red horns and goat legs. If we imagine the devil like this, then we can see these characteristics in the story. One item mentioned in the previous paragraph was the wig Arnold was wearing, which he is using to cover his horns. Also, Arnold continues to lose his balance because he cannot stand correctly. The narrator said, “He had to bend and adjust his boots. Evidently, his feet did not go all the way down; the boots must have been stuffed with something so that he would appear taller” (329). In this statement, we see that Arnold does not have human feet because his feet do not go in the boots completely. Later in the story, the narrator describes his feet “pointed out to the left bent at the ankle” (329). This perfectly describes goat legs, which also explains why Arnold is pretending to be human. If he can make Connie not suspicious about his true identity, then he could gain her
trust. The most important aspect of Arnold that represents the devil are the flies that always following him. The devil is sometimes referred to as Beelzebub, which means lord of flies (Ross). This named is used in Matthew 12:24, which states, “Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, ‘This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.’” Oates could have used this symbolism in her own story. There are many instances where flies are present, including at the drive-in restaurant, the barbecue, and Connie’s house. It is important to notice that Arnold is present at two of those locations, the drive-in and Connie’s house. The narrator describes the restaurant as a “fly-infested restaurant” (318). Connie is also “chasing flies away from her door” when Arnold drives up (321). However; it is not clear if he was present at the barbecue, but he knew very specific details about the barbecue like June’s clothing and the presence of Mrs. Hornsby (327). This means that he must have been present at the barbecue before he visited Connie’s house, which explains the flies. Since the flies are always around him, then Arnold must be the devil. In conclusion, there are clear biblical references about the devil in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?’ This might not have been Oates’ motive, but the evidence is clear in the story. Arnold Friend is a dark character regardless of her motive. Therefore, Arnold not showing his true self and the presence of flies indicate that he represents the devil.
At the end of the movie, a stranger named Arnold Friend encountered Connie at her home while she was home alone. Arnold was a vicious, but alluring character. The way he dressed was as if he tried to imitate a young teenage boy. First, his intentions for Connie were kind of blurry. Connie, being as
Oates uses a great number of symbols in her short story "Where are you going? Where have you been? to create an aura of unease and Devilishness. Her principal symbols are Arnold Friend, his disguise, and the music Connie listens to. Oates' use of symbolism and Biblical allusions to Satan force the reader to raise an eyebrow to the character of Arnold Friend and the doomed future of Connie.
In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” written by Joyce Carol Oats, the writer includes a very interesting character. One of the main characters, Arnold Friend, is a dynamic character due to the sudden changes of this physical appearance and personality. At first he seems charming and a little on the sweet side, but then his dark side starts to show as the story progresses. He first appears when Connie abandons her friend to go with a boy named Eddie. Arnold is seen in his gold convertible Jalopy, which is the first sign that he wants to be alluring. His first words in the story are "Gonna get you, baby" this foreshadows his intentions when it comes to Connie
"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
My definition of evil is in its most general context, is taken as the absence of that which is ascribed as being good. Often, evil is used to denote profound immorality. In this situation I would have to say Arnold’s friend most exemplifies evil. Arnold Friend could be an allegorical devil figure, the protagonist who lures Connie into riding off with him in his car, or, in the contrary, far more a grotesque portrait of a psychopathic killer masquerading as a teenager. However, he has all the traditional, sinister traits of that arch deceiver and source of grotesque terror, the devil, with his painted eyelashes, shaggy hair, and stuffed boots. In the story, Oates does make Arnold out to be a psychopathic stalker, but never objectively states the diabolical nature to his character.
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
Arnold Friend is the devil in human form. However, as his physical description progresses, he becomes more unreal and more caricature-like with every trait. Everything Connie, the protagonist and object of Arnold Friend's desire, sees is like something else she knows, familiar and recognizable. These traits, however, do not create a homologous character; instead it is an awkward collection of incongruities. If a trait does not appear borrowed, it appears fake or imitating. His hair is "shaggy [and] shabby . . . that looked crazy as a wig," and Connie's assertion is strengthened when he put his sunglasses on his head "as if he were indeed wearing a wig." Already Arnold Friend seems assembled, completely divergent from human characteristics. Connie describes the way he is dressed, as well as his body type, as similar to every other boy out there. With every physical detail, Arnold Friend seems more and more like the devil taking on the appearance of a typical teenage boy in order to prevent scaring young girls away. "His face was a familiar...
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...
The overuse of biblical allusions throughout the story helps to expose the naive nature of Connie that reveals her as a victim of evil which shows that lust often transgresses on an individual’s identity. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Joyce Carol Oates expressed the subjective ideas by symbolizing Arnold Friend as a devil that tempts a clueless teenage girl Connie, who wanted to experience love.
In “Where are You Going, Where Have you Been?” Joyce Carol Oates uses an allegorical figure of evil to illustrate the theme of temptation. Oates alludes to hell through the character Arnold Friend, as the devil, and his victim Connie, who invites him in by committing the sin of vanity.
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:
Ignorance and vanity can be good, in small amounts, but too much can lead to very unwelcome consequences. Connie, a teenage girl who can’t get enough of herself, learned this the hard way when a strange man by the name of Arnold Friend arrives at her house with the intent of taking her on a ‘date’. Instead of calling the police or locking herself in, like common sense would imagine, Connie uneasily greets Arnold from her door when he gets out of his car, instantly letting her vanity and ignorance get the best of her. Joyce Carol Oates shocks the reader with the twist ending in her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” in which after hearing Arnold’s threat towards her family, Connie hands herself over to Arnold allowing him
In the short story “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?”, by Joyce Carol Oates, the use of the symbolism of Connie’s clothes, her fascination with her beauty, Arnold Friend’s car and Arnold Friend himself help to understand the story’s theme of evil and manipulation. The story, peppered with underlying tones of evil, finds Oates writing about 15-year-old Connie, the protagonist of the story, a pretty girl who is a little too into her own attractiveness, which eventually gets her into trouble with a man named Arnold Friend. The story is liberally doused with symbolism, from the way Connie dresses to the shoes on Arnold Friend’s feet. In “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” the reader can pick up on some of the symbols very easily, while others need deeper thought. The subtle hints of symbolism throughout the story create a riveting tale that draws the reader in. Connie finally succumbs to Arnold Friend at the end of the story, it then becomes obvious that he represents the devil and the symbolism of her clothing and Arnold’s car all tie together to create a better understanding of the story.
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.
First, Arnold Friend’s physical traits portray him as Satan. Oates says that “There were two boys in the car and now she recognized the driver: he had shaggy, shabby black hair that looked crazy as a wig and he was grinning at her,” (Oates 316). The hair could actually be a wig hiding something that he didn’t want someone to see. Maybe he was hiding his devil horns. Also when he was standing Connie had mentioned that “He was standing in a strange way, leaning back against the car as if he were balancing himsel...