Critical Analysis of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

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.

The minister then questions her but after his unsuccessful attempt, Mother’s actions become a scandal throughout the town because “any deviation from the ordinary course of life in this quiet town was enough to stop all progress in it” (C670). This does not bother Mother and she successfully continues with her plans. By overcoming this alienation both characters achieve feminine empowerment.

He by all means is trying to hide is Satan appearance. As for his appearance, we see these clues that he is not human. As he is trying to show that he is human by his appearance, and making his appearance look as good as possible. Another example, in the story is when Arnold Friend says to Connie. “Let’s just go for a ride, Connie sweetheart, Arnold Friend says. ‘I never said that my name was Connie, she said.’ And he replies: ‘But I know what it is.’ I know your name and all about you, a lots of things, Arnold Friend say”. At that moment we assume that Arnold Friend has totally brain washed Connie, and pulled her under his wing and pulls her closer to

The daughter is bored with her mother's dreams and lets her pride take over. She often questions her self-worth, and she decides that she respects herself as nothing more than the normal girl that she is and always will be. Her mother is trying to mold her into something that she can never be, she believes, and only by her futile attempts to rebel can she hold on to the respect that she has for herself. The daughter is motivated only to fail so that she may continue on her quest to be normal. Her only motivation for success derives from her own vanity; although she cannot admit it to herself or her mother, she wants the audience to see her as that something that she is not, that same something that her mother hopes she could be.

Arnold Friend is seen as a symbolic satan due to the fact of how Oates uses dialogue through the short story.

Arnold Friend is a seductive man, or should I say ArN OLD FrIEND with a dark appearance hiding something deeper, something evil? Arnold, posing as a teen-age boy, is none other than the devil himself, which shows in his words and actions, and in his physical traits. From the very beginning of, Joyce Carol Oates', "Where are you going, Where Have you been?" a certain number of religious references are interspersed throughout. These references help to maintain a biblical feeling, as well as to set a path for Friend's entry into the story. They also foreshadow that; powers beyond a human level will be presented. Friend looks like one person in the beginning, but as the story unfolds, he is shown as someone else or

Arnold Friend, Ellie, and Connie are all listening to Rock and Roll (R&R). If you take out the two R's in Arnold Friend, you get An Old Fiend, which means an evil spirit. The oldest and most popular fiend through time has been the devil. Another reason to suspect that Arnold Friend represents the devil is because of his shoes. In the story, Arnold Friend, "almost lost his balance again. He had to bend and adjust his boots. Evidently his feet did not go all the way down." Arnold lost his balance multiple times, like a drunk man would and when he bent down to fix his shoes, Connie realized that his feet did not go all the way down. This could stand to say that instead of having feet he had hooves, which he couldn't properly get into his shoes. It is also common for people to believe that unless invited into the home (through actions or through words), the devil can not step inside. This would explain why Arnold stayed outside even after Connie had threatened to call the police and ran into the back room where the phone was. The final reason it is possible that Arnold symbolizes the devil is that he says "I know your name and all about you, lots of things. I took a special interest in you, such a pretty girl, and I found out all about you- like I know your parents and sister are gone somewhere and I know where and how long they're going to be gone, and I know who you were with last night, and your best

Very interesting clues have been found proving he is the devil. One of the things that catches the attention of the reader is the fact that he knows every single detail about everything her family is doing while at the barbecue (76). Something only God and the devil are capable to do. Also if you take the two “R’s “ in Arnold Friend you get “an old fiend”, and the oldest fiend through time is

Arnold Friend is the epitome of true evil. Anthony Ellis refers to him as “ostensibly evil… […], a devil, a satyr, and a psychic projection” (Ellis 55). Indeed, Friend appears to share many traits with Satan. Not only is Friend manipulative and deceptive; he also camouflages his appearance in order to manipulate his victims into obeying his whims. Satan’s disguise, telling of his character, was that of a snake. It could be argued that Satan is the reason behind snakes’ terrible reputation and the reason why one is viewed as a sleazy character when referred to as a snake. By this definition, Friend is indeed a snake. He attempts to manipulate Connie into taking a ride with him, and he makes himself appear younger in order to lure his victim into his trap. He has to hide agitation and anger whenever Connie questions him, which she does multiple times throughout the short story. His attempts to make himself appear to be a gangly, yet charming teenager are lost on her, forcing Friend to rework his

 There are many reasons why Arnold Friend is the devil himself. The story starts with his physical description, having shaggy, shabby black hair that looked as crazy as a wig.” his nose, "long and hawk-like," and his eyes that "were like chips of broken glass" all suggest that he is evil in some way. "His whole face was a mask, [Connie] thought wildly, tanned down

He presents a façade, and embodies various forms to tempt and entice the struggling sinner. Oates illustrates the allegorical Arnold Friend as a devilish venus flytrap amongst the flowers. He is a charismatic psychopath with eyes "like broken glass that catch light in an amiable way" (Oates 982). He represents sex and rock 'n' roll, a parent's nightmare, and a young girl's lusty teenage dream. It is said the devil cannot enter a home unless invited in. Did Connie welcome him into her life with the playful batting of eyelashes that fateful night at the burger hop? Arnold most certainly believed she did, "Didn't you see me put my sign in the air when you walked by… And he drew an X in the air, leaning out toward her" (Oates 983). Just as the devil bears the mark 666, Arnold posses his own mark "X", a sign that perhaps marks or spares those chosen few out of this world. Arnold is a deceiver with rags stuffed in his boots, coming to take the frail and naive Connie captive for his own sexual pleasures. He strikes fear in her heart, by threatening to kill her family if she does not oblige him. The smooth talking menace invites Connie into her own personal hell, "If the place got lit up with fire, honey, you'd come runnin' out into my arms" (Oates 986). In a elegiac tone, Connie powerlessly walks through the delicate screen door, the threshold, the portal, to the death of innocence. Knowingly or unknowingly, she expresses the heroic gesture of self-sacrifice, and the death of her

The devil is said to know everything about a person. Arnold Friend’s use of language about what he knows is terrifying. “Arnold’s laugh, his persistence, and ability to see what Connie is thinking - these are horrifying to this young, innocent girl. Figuratively, he knows exactly how to corner her and not allow her to get away” (Davis). The data mentions knowing how to corner her, implying he was saying all the right things to make her feel trapped, as if he is in her mind. He knows so much about her, and Connie does not know him and has never met him. She feels cornered in her own mind and her own house. The only way for the devil to enter one’s house is by invitation. Arnold never once steps foot inside but only gets close to the door. “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 7). Friend seems to

Oates make an extraordinary work portraying an image of the girls that cannot wait to be a woman. While Connie is running as fast as she can, immersing herself in the adult life of young woman who is awakening her sexuality, she seduces herself into the wrong path. As a result, she unconsciously throwing away her innocence. Connie was a girl that want to get the attention of everyone, especially of the boys, because she at some point feels neglected and

Connie starts out as a narcissistic fifteen-year-old girl, acutely self-aware of the fact that she was attractive, and exceedingly tired of her mother’s constant nagging about Connie’s attentiveness to her own appearance and her indifference to anything else. Oates introduces Connie as a girl who “knew she was pretty and that was everything...Connie’s mother kept picking at her until Connie wished her mother was dead and she herself was dead and it was all over” (1). To escape her mother’s disapproving gaze and the incessant criticisms that trailed her at home, she would go out with

Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is not a simple black and white short story. One is not told that Connie dies or even exactly what happens to her, but the reader interprets that her fate is not a good one. Connie’s future is already determined from the moment we are introduced to her character, and it is a deadly one. After examining the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, one can conclude that there were factors from this narrative which led to the demise of its main character, Connie. Factors such as her broken relationship with her family and specifically her “daddy issues”, her teenage “religion” tying into her superficial way of thinking, and even the pop culture she is surrounded by all contribute to where Connie is headed when encountered with Arnold Friend. Connie knows what lies ahead of her at end of the story, but the real question is, does she know it is because of where she had been?