Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Arnold Friend Character

There is a plefuria of coincidental weird incidents that occur through the story making it more like a dream then reality. Arnold Friend is never seen by any other character except for Connie, which if it was reality would be hard to believe because connie's family lives in a small town where everybody knows each other. Connie also explains his car, giving it very unique and unrealistic factors that would not go unnoticed in a small town in the year of 1966. This is not the only unlikely thing that happens within the story that leads people to see that this is infact one of Connie's “trashy daydreams” as her mother would’ve called it (Oates 1034). For example, Oates goes on to tell more creepily coincidental incidents,“Connie began to hear the music.

The story presents a rebellious teenager named Connie who is also preoccupied with her appearance. She was approached by Arnold Friend in her house but before this,

One evening she catches the attention of a man in a gold convertible that is covered in writing. While her parents were out at her aunt’s barbeque, two men pull up and the driver in the car is Arnold Friend, who had seen her at the drive in. Arnold gets out to talk with Connie and at first she likes him, but she soon becomes the victim of the story. Arnold wants her to come to the other side and look at the writing on the car, but she won’t, as she claims that she has other things to do. Arnold then wants her to join him and Ellie for a ride, but he won’t tell her where they’d be going, and he mentions Connie’s name even though she has no recollection of ever meeting him.

From the beginning, a tone of disappointment and oppressiveness covered the story. Connie always has to deal with criticism from her mother, ignorance from her father, and comparison with her sister. The author gives the readers a tone of suffocation and struggles from within her own house and how her family members treat her. As the story progresses, the author is changing his tone from oppressive to suspenseful and anxious. At this time, Connie's meeting with Arnold Friend is taking place.

However, this is countered when Connie notes that “he was much older—thirty, maybe more” (315), a fact that frightens her. What Arnold is to Connie is a challenge of her want to be an adult, and a trail of her ability to deal with adult issue. Such as a man who singles her out sexual reason. Her wish to be an adult is something she seeks while passively avoiding it. Her avoidance is marked by day dreams of puppy love romance, like a typical teenager; yet, her attractive flaunt to be mature is presented as if she seeks to be an

However, this changes when Arnold together with a friend show up at Connie’s home while her parents are away. She realizes there is more to Arnold than meets the eye and that her life and that of her family could be in danger. An article written in an issue of life magazine in 1966

Connie is boastful of knowing she can pull any guy which causes her to have a huge ego until she accidentally runs into Arnold Friend one night as he says, “gonna get ya baby” (494). Connie does not think much of Arnold other than the fact he is a creep, until one Sunday afternoon, he shows up at her house. Arnold is begging Connie to come with him for a ride and mysteriously knows her parents are gone, how long they will be, and where they are. Immediately, Connie gets a bad feeling and is quick to long for her mother. Because of how Connie portrayed herself, she gets put into a situation of where us readers are stuck wondering what actually happens.

When Connie realizes that Arnold is much older than she thought, she is taken over by fear of what’s going to happen. This situation is much different than anything else she has ever

He tries to seduce and persuade her to go with him for a ride similar to how the Devil lured Eve with a shiny and mysterious apple. Oates displays evidence of biblical allusions regarding Arnold Friend’s appearance and persona in the story by depicting his physical characteristics, his supernatural knowledge, and his demeanor as an image of evil. Connie wants to be desired for her sexuality and Arnold possesses this by his tone throughout the story. His appearance comes

In the story, Connie looked at the phrase “man the flying saucers and she felt like “words meant something to her that she did not yet know” (p.) which if she was on drugs she might not be aware of the fact that what she is seeing is not real, but eventually when she is sober she will understand. The ambiguity of Arnold Friend leaves many unanswered questions for readers. Unless Joyce Carol Oates decides to reveal the real Arnold Friend, readers may never know if he was in fact the devil or just a figment of Connie’s

In the end, this leads her to be abducted by Arnold. She was very gullible and unaware of the situation because of the attention surrounding her. Connie was so invested in gaining male attention that she read over the red flags. At first, Connie thought these were young men who drove up to her house. Connie describes how attractive Arnold is, such as how his jeans fit, the way his smile makes her feel, and the way he talks.

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.

Reluctantly, her parents allow her to stay home alone. A few hours later, a familiar gold jalopy pulls up to her house. The driver announces to Connie that his name is Arnold Friend. His unusual physical appearance, his tone of voice, and what he may symbolize frighten the Connie.

“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.

He knew her name even though she had only quickly glimpsed at him the night prior with no communication from her at all. He knows where her parents are, what they are doing, how long they will be, how they look he even knows who her best friends are. Essentially Arnold Friend is the very essence of nightmare to Connie he is everything she is afraid of. He pressures her in to a situation out of her control. He takes away her pride of rejecting people and forces her to choose her family being hurt of facing her demons and going with him.