Arnold Friend Symbolizes the Devil in Where are you Going,...

In the story â€Å"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. First, Arnold Friend’s physical traits portray him as Satan. Oates says that â€Å"There were two boys in the car and now she recognized the driver: he had shaggy, shabby†¦show more content†¦She knows he is threatening her and her family but it seems she is controlled by an unknown source that makes her go with him. Someone could argue that Connie went willingly to protect her famil y, but that seems weird since she tried to call for help. When she tried to call for help it seemed like Arnold Friend was controlling her so that she wasn’t able to call for help. Arnold Friend has a mysterious control over Connie that makes the reader believe that she is under his control. The story says, â€Å"She felt her pounding heart. Her hand seemed to enclose it. She thought for the first time in her life that it was nothing that was hers, that belonged to her, but just a pounding, living thing inside this body that wasn’t really hers either†(Oates 325). This could prove that she didn’t have control over the situation, kind of like someone or something was controlling her. Arnold Friend represents Satan because of his physical character, his ability to know things about Connie, and his strange hypnotic power over her. Arnold Friend’s physical traits lead us to believe that he is trying to hide his true identity. He knows a lot of information about Connie that he shouldn’t know. He knew exactly where her parents were and what they were doing. He also has an unexplained force over Connie. This suggests that he has the power to make it seem like Connie was under his control. All of these things are commonShow MoreRelatedAnalysis of â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† Essay1018 Words   |  5 PagesComp II 30 April 2011 Analysis of â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† by Joyce Carol Oates In 1966, Joyce Carol Oates published her short story â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?†. Oates was inspired to write this story after reading about a serial killer that was referred to as â€Å"The Pied Piper of Tucson†. Oates was disturbed by the number of teenagers that this killer was able to persuade to help him and keep his secrets (Oates 1). Oates uses irony, imagery, and symbolism toRead MoreWhere Are You Going? Where Have You Been?1546 Words   |  7 PagesWhere Are You Going? Where Have You Been? In the short story, Where are you going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie flaunts her beauty to receive attention from the opposite sex and is lead to temptation. The antagonist Arnold Friend, who symbolizes the devil, shows how simple it is to take away your safe haven through sinister acts. Connie is split between how she acts and portrays herself at home, and how she acts whenever she is with her group of friends. Connie refuses toRead More Where Are You Going? Essay1052 Words   |  5 Pages In the short story â€Å"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. 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HisRead MoreArnold Friend Symbolism1115 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been†, was published by Joyce Carol Oates. She was born on June 16th, 1938 in Lockport, New York. As an American writer, Oates published over 40 novels, as well as a number of plays, short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Out of her works, one of her publications consisted of the short story â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been†. This particular story was about a teenage girl, named Connie, who encounters an unknown, demonic â€Å"stranger† (Arnold Friend). ThroughoutRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been1249 Words   |  5 Pagesage has been seen as a determinate factor of maturity. And with this maturity, comes power. This belief i s clearly defined in Joyce Carol Oates’ short story, â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been†. In this story, the main character, Connie, struggles to reach maturity. Wielding her sexuality in hand, Connie charges into the battle for power, leaving her vulnerable to Arnold Friend’s temptation. Through the use of a symbolic figure, Arnold Friend, who represents the devil, Oates is able toRead MoreHow To Nab Youngsters 101. Joyce Carol Oates Wrote â€Å"Where1670 Words   |  7 PagesYoungsters 101 Joyce Carol Oates wrote â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† in 1966. This was written to be for all the teenagers that think they know best. Connie is a self- absorbed teenager that is extremely aware of her beauty, and uses this to her advantage with different characters throughout the story. Her conflict with her mother and sister because of the self-assurance and arrogance leads to her demise. She gets herself into trouble by disobeying her parents and going out to places