Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Arnold Friend Character Analysis

I would of thought that it was like "lets go pump some iron" but every symbol has a different meaning. In Romero's mural "Going to the Olympic,1984", he might feel about our cities car culture is that its an important part of our lives in L.A. thats why he made the cars colorful and put hearts on top of them. the artist choice of color sets the mood of the picture in Los Angeles because it was a vibrant image and when people are driving on the freeway they get bored so when you see it i think that people will get in a better mood. the mural makes you think a lot of why he choose those colors and why those shapes.

For instance, Arnold Friend has a style that is similar to that of famous people like Elvis Presley and James Dean. He has slick hair and tight clothing. Ellie, Arnold's friend, uses a handheld transistor radio to listen to the radio, which serves as yet another illustration. These handheld transistors saw their first sale in the middle of the 1950s. Additionally, the driving restaurants, movie theaters, shopping malls, and ranch-style homes exude the 1950s and 1960s charm.

O’Conner uses a great deal of symbolism throughout the story in order to create the theme that society is lacking holiness and becoming corrupt because of its immorality. These symbols include the three most important characters in the story, Lucynell, her daughter, and Shiftlet. The courthouse, the car, and the sunset are also symbols in the story that help contribute to the theme. O’Conner utilizes multiple people, places, and objects that represent larger ideas to construct the story’s theme that people value material items more than God, and this misjudgment has created a morally misguided society.

Connie, the main character in Joyce Carol Oates’ short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is a young woman with palpably low self-esteem. This vulnerability allows Arnold Friend, the main antagonist of the story, to successfully attract and manipulate Connie. The story begins by highlighting Connie’s daily rituals of self-assurance (369). In order to feel secure with herself, even for a fleeting moment, Connie looks at herself in a mirror to make sure that she is satisfied with what she sees; this ritual is coupled with her tendency, when in public, to scan the area in order to make sure that no one is making any disgruntled looks about her appearance (369).

The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates contains many symbols that reveal a hidden message. The car symbolizes freedom that mostly men got to enjoy as women sat in the passenger sit. The story does mention one driver who is a woman but she is noted as a “crazy woman driver” as she left a dent in Arnold Friend’s car. The man being the driver had the power which is what Arnold wants when he asks Connie to get in the car so that he can take her “for a ride.” The car and Arnold are both disguised and in some moments their disguise becomes apparent.

The story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates, is a one where the idea of how girl who struggles with wanting to be a mature woman, faces her demon full form. The protagonist of the story is Connie, a 15-year-old rebel girl, obsessed with her look; and through fault of her own, meets the antithesis of herself, the antagonist of the story, Arnold Friend. Connie seeks to be a mature adult and desires an emancipation from her family. Seeing herself as mature woman through the desires of her attraction by other boys and men, as well as her mother. Its this same desire which acts as the main fault for her character.

Friend himself. There’s so much symbolism going around this one character and his beloved car alone, that one could write a separate paper on the topic. Speaking of yet more symbolism, we get finally get a formal introduction to Arnold Friend, who’s name alone symbolizes trouble. Since Arnold Friend is symbolizing Satan a known shapeshifter, one could do a little reading into the several interpretations of his name. One, An old friend, this being Eddie, the guy she had burgers with at the mall.

It serves as a contrast between who Arnold is and who he is disguised as. The car symbolizes the fantasy and the reality aspect of Arnold. The new paint job on his car is used to symbolize Arnold’s fake disguise that he puts on to lure Connie in. Arnold’s car becomes a major example of his dark appearance and nature. The color of his car which is gold represents being flashy.

Arnold’s appearance is the biggest faustian lie that he uses. From his head to toes and all the way to his car. “The boots must have been stuffed with something so he would seem taller,” this is evidence that he is trying to trick Connie into believing he is someone he is not in order to make her interested. Many stories are of the Devil using trickery to manipulate his image to be someone else, which Arnold Friend definitely does. In addition to presenting himself as someone he’s not, the car within the story is also an extended metaphor for him.

In her short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", Joyce Carol Oates utilizes a variety of literary devices to strengthen the story in its entirety. This short story is essentially about a 16-year-old girl named Connie and the conflict between her desire to be mature and her desire to remain an adolescent. Throughout the story, the audience sees this conflict through her words in addition to through her behavior. The audience is also introduced to Arnold Friend, a rather peculiar man, who essentially kidnaps her. This short story by Joyce Carol Oates functions and is additionally meaningful because of her usage of literary devices.

The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates can be interpreted in a multitude of ways due to its ambiguity. A psychological lens, however, provides the most accurate viewpoint for analyzing the story as it clarifies certain obscure scenes and actions of Connie. One psychological issue of Connie that is easily inferred from the beginning of the story is her insecurity about her looks. Connie constantly worries about the way that she looks and takes any opportunity to do so, “craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people's faces to make sure her own was all right” (1).

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” is about a teenager named Connie who is trying to come to terms with her transformation from childhood to adulthood. Through this process, Connie attempts to act older than she is an tries to gain the attention of boys. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Joyce Oates portrays Connie as obsessed with men to symbolize how one’s obsession and narcissistic attitude can cause danger to seem surreal. In the short story, Carol Oates describes Connie as having two different personalities, one being a narcissistic attitude.

This quote gets us to know how equality is in the book. From this quote we can get that white people have an advantage, and black people have to be patient enough to see how they are being treated by having to wait for the white people to pass when they are the ones who got to the bridge first. The cars show/represent how they fit in the line of respect. It is known in the book for the characters, that if you are black you are likely to not own a car, but maybe a wagon; if not, then you go around on your

Arnolds Friends tries to get Connie into his car for a ride and most likely for something much cruel. When Arnold arrives in his car to Connie’s house and tries to lure her out, he tries to convince her that he is young and later on describes what he wants to do with her, that she is his “lover”. There are many symbols during this passage that wraps around the whole story. Arnold’s car in “ Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” it is mostly seen in the story that the guys are always driving and when Arnold asks Connie to go for a ride he wants control over her, once you go inside you don’t have much power, the power is in the driver. His car symbolizes dishonesty, power and disguise

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, tells a story revolving around the life of the wealthy folk. Throughout the book, Fitzgerald describes and involves cars in the plot on several occasions. In The Great Gatsby, cars come to represent the carelessness of the wealthy. The cars’ symbolism first appeared in the novel after Gatsby’s first big party.