Character Analysis Of Arnold Friend In 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'

How often does a character have the ability to change his persona from a so called “nice guy”, to a malevolent human being? A first impression is always an important one, but what if the first impression tends to be the wrong one? Well, that’s exactly what kind of character Joyce Carol Oates describes in her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Connie, the fifteen-year-old protagonist; who plays the girl next door perfectly, encounters a man who will undoubtedly changes her life forever. Arnold Friend symbolizes everything that is wrong with a sinful human nature. Arnold is the epitome of pure evil.
The first time that Connie encounters Arnold was when she was standing in a parking lot listening to music. She didn’t

know it was Arnold at that time, but what she saw was “a boy with shaggy black hair, in a convertible jalopy pained gold” (Oates 164). Connie, being a curious young girl, glanced at Arnold for the second time, and that’s when Arnold said “Gonna get you, baby,” (Oates 164). It becomes clear that Arnold is not be who he’s pretending to be; a nice guy, but rather a person that has ulterior motives.
The first use of symbolism that the author adeptly uses is Arnold’s car, when one Sunday afternoon Arnold drives up to Connie’s home. When Connie steps outside to see who it is, the extreme bright color of the car is the first clue that Arnold might be far more dangerous than she originally anticipated. Connie begins to complain that the color of the car is too bright and it’s hurting her eyes. Not only does Connie not like the color of the car, she being’s to question the validity of just how old Arnold really is. Once Connie realizes Arnold’s true nature, the car becomes a symbol of everything that is mischievous, malicious, and wicked about Arnold (SparkNotes).
Symbolism comes in many forms and in this case it comes in a series of numbers. Painted on the side of Arnold’s car are the numbers “33,19,17” (Oates 167). In Arnold’s case these numbers symbolize a passage from the Bible. In the thirty-third book of the Old Testament, Judges 19:17 reads as follows “The old man saw the traveler in the public square and asked, “Where are you going? Where did come from?” (Hurley).
It is also believed that “Where are you going, Where have you been?” is based on a true story of a fifteen-year-old girl who was murdered in Arizona in the 1960’s, where an individual similar to Arnold Friend enticed a young teenager into his car never to be seen again (Coulthard).
There is nothing good about Arnold, and even though he genuinely seems like he wants to take care of Connie, he is also trying to further his own agenda. When Connie was sitting at home regretting not going to the cook-out with her family, she decides to pass time by listening to a music program called “XYZ Sunday Jamboree” (Oates 165). Connie loves listening to music, it helps her stay calm and relax. So, when Arnold hears music playing in the background, he identifies that he can use music to his benefit. Music in this case becomes allegory symbolism because Arnold will use it to gain a sexual advantage over Connie and break the conversational stale-mate by discussing an admired singer which the both of them adore. Just as the apple lured Eve, it was music that lured Connie into the arms of Arnold Friend (Urbanski).
When Arnold Friend walks, he wobbles, almost as if his shoes don’t feet his feet properly, and when Connie sees him she assumes he is wearing a wig because his hair is messed up.

The symbolism used here were the numerous clues regarding Arnold’s appearance, possibly suggesting that he is either Satan himself or a satyr (Greek mythological god). Critics hypothesize that Arnold is wearing a wig to hide his pointed ears or even his horns. Also, the reason why his feet don’t fit properly into his boots is because Arnold has hooves instead of feet. (Easterly). So, when Arnold is standing on the porch looking at Connie through the mesh screen door, she notices the sunglasses he was wearing, “The driver’s glasses were metallic and mirrored everything in miniature” (Oates 172).
It is said that our eyes are the windows to our soul, so when Connie is unable to see Arnold’s eyes—essentially she’s unable to see into his soul. Connie can’t make a worthy judgement call on whether she thinks he has good intentions towards her, or he might be hiding something behind those mirrored glasses. It is a perfect disguise for Arnold to hide his true intentions behind (Easterly). The glasses in this particular instance symbolize the evil that resides deep inside Arnold, the kind of evil that can only be described as the devil

himself.
Throughout the whole encounter between Connie and Arnold, it becomes clear that as the conversation grew, Arnold was consistently temping Connie to leave the safety and protection of her home.

Connie knew that as long as she stays inside she will be safe; however, she can’t turn away from the temptations that Arnold is offering. The more Connie resists, the more frustrated, impatient, and aggravated Arnold becomes. It is then that Arnold introduces a diabolical symbolism when he says “I ain’t made plans for coming in that house where I don’t belong but just for you to come out to me, the way you should. Don’t you know who I am?” (Oates 173). In that statement, Arnold symbolizes a creature that possesses supernatural powers, having the ability to dominate Connie by addressing her in a demeaning way. Arnold, at this point in the story beings to take form into a being that must make himself appear more significant than anything or anyone that’s important in Connie’s life

(Easterly).
Connie couldn’t overcome the forces and power that Arnold demonstrated. No matter how hard Connie tried to run away from the grasp and reach of Arnold, he never let her out of his grip, he never allowed her to make any moves that would allow her to save herself. The fake smiles, the laughter, and the jokes were symbolic of an evil entity that wanted nothing more than to conquer another human being (Urbanski).
In conclusion, although it may seem like Connie had numerous opportunities to escape the situation she put herself in, at the end of the day Arnold Friend had all the power. Arnold symbolizes evil that only serial killers and mass murderers are able to achieve. Through the use of tactics such as fear, intimidation, and kindness, Arnold was able to lure Connie out of her comfort zone. Once he had Connie where he wanted her, there was no going back. Connie would never to be seen again.