Have you ever felt so umcomfortable in a situation it made you scared? WAYG, WHYB written by Joyce Carol Oates is a thriller about a stalker who preys on the main character connie. Through Arnold Friend’s persistance and determination for connie, as well as the biblical references, Joyce Carol Oates shows how Arnold Friend is the devil. Arnold Friend is the devil and this can be proven through his appearance. “Tight faded jeans stuffed into blacked scuffed boots” (Oates 4). In the bible the devil walked on his heels . Arnold is doing the same by stuffing his boots essentially. This is a example of how he can be compared to the devil. This data shows how the antagonist , Arnold Friend is deceitful by making himself appear younger than
For example, Connie listened to the music that made everything even good, “ the music was always in the background like music at a church service, it was something to depend upon”. And, it is music that lures Connie, just as many teens of Dylan 's era were lured by his lyrics and music, although Ms. Oates does not perceive Dylan 's as subversive or dangerous. Interestingly, however, to deceive Connie, Arnold Friend mimics Dylan in the
Arnold Friend was there to take Connie away; away from her childhood and home, which never quite felt like home until her fantasy world deteriorated and reality set it. The next moment is pivotal, this is when Connie forgets her hedonism and becomes something of much more substance. Before Connie studies Arnold Friend’s abnormal personality and erratic behavior she is fascinated by him and even worries that she is ill prepared for this
In Joyce Carole Oates short story,” Where Are You Going, Where Have you Been”, the battle of perception and reality comes into play when Connie ,a young teenage girl tries to portray herself as an adult by using her appearance as well as attitude in order to attract the attentions of older men. This fantasy world of Connie’s is eventually overthrown by Arnold Friend, causing her to snap back into the realization that her sexual fantasies will soon be a reality. This overall theme of sexual reality is reinforced by the different uses of music and character symbolisms of Connie and Arnold
shows the readers that that vanity and lack of self-awareness can make some vulnerable and easily fall for the evilness of the world. Because Connie became vulnerable, she was easily persuaded by Arnold, who was portrayed as the Devil figure and the darkness that exists, to leave her the known safety of her home and to embark on the road to the unclear future. Oates’s story teaches the readers to be cautious of their surroundings and of the people that are unfamiliar to them that live in the same society. That is because even if someone appears to look a certain way they might have a mask that hides the true darkness and evilness that is in their body and
The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” was written by the author Joyce Carol Oates in 1966. Oates describes her idea for the story after briefly reading an article about the real-life murderer, Charles Schmid, who lured and murdered three teenage girls (Kirszner & Mandell 523). She uses this idea to create the character, Arnold Friend, and his victim, Connie. Connie is a typical teenage girl portrayed as naïve and self-centered. The short story appears realistic, given that the conflict in the story is based off of real events.
Fantasy V.S. Reality In some cases an individual can perceive something as the complete opposite of what it truly is. People create the illusion or the fantasy on what they believe something to be.
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
The Misfit and Arnold Friend both provide to be effective authoritative predators in persuading their victims to follow their directives which ultimately lead to their unfortunate deaths and abduction. Both characters in each of these short stories also exhibited insinuated religious implications that related them mainly to two major figures in religion, Jesus and the Devil. After analyzing The Misfit and Arnold's relationship with their respective main characters, many differences were also noted that separated them as individual manipulators that each performed their own tasks to get what they
It is quite possible that Connie has just invented Arnold Friend based on her love of music, at one point in the story it seems like Connie is falling asleep while listening to XYZ Sunday Jamboree and all of the sudden Arnold Friend shows up coincidently listening to the same thing. Instead of saying Arnold Friend knows Connie’s name and many things about her because he is the devil, you could say that Arnold Friend knows all of that because he is described as
The strongest villain we have encountered in literature thus far is Arnold Friend. Premiering in Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where are you going, where have you been,” Arnold Friend is inspired by a true story. In 1960, there was a man that preyed on young girls in Arizona, later called the “Pied Piper of Tucson.” Although this man wore obviously fake makeup and clothes, he befriended the young teenage girls with his charm and sweet talk. Similar to the real man, Arnold Friend is a character that talks his way out of every question he is asked by everyone. Arnold Friend is a man of deception, hiding behind his disguise as a teenage boy, whose charisma allows him to get what he wants.
The story “Where is Here” ,written by Joyce Oates, begins when a man goes to look at the house he grew up in. He knocks on the door and the dad invites him in, but he declines and just walks around the outer parts of the house. While he is walking outside, the mom of the house tells him to come inside and walk around. The house brings back many good and bad memories that help the reader piece together the strange man's past. The short story, “Where is Here,” has a bleak setting, tortured characters, and supernatural events which help make it an American gothic piece.
This clairvoyance also points to the fact that he may be a demonic creature. Connie never actually tells Arnold her name but he somehow already knows it. The last detail that points to Arnold being a demonic being is his mind control over Connie. For some reason she is unable to dial for the police.
Connie in Joyce Carol Oates’s story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” desperately wants to be independent from her family, while Gregor Samsa in Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” pathetically yearns for inclusion. In this story, Oates pays special attention to the mother-daughter relationship and the lack of meaningful communication between them. Connie's mother is an image of the future Connie doesn't want – the life of a domestic housewife. Connie has a love-hate relationship with her mother, with whom she identifies, but at the same time she has to distance herself from her mother in order to establish her independence. On the other hand, The Metamorphosis, a story by Franz Kafka, is about a man who has been transformed into a giant beetle
Instead of realizing the danger that she was in, Connie was focused on what Arnold Friend was wearing and how attractive he was. Connie’s obsession with finding her own sexuality overpowered her gut feeling of danger. In an analysis of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, Barbara Wiedemann discusses how the antagonist Arnold Friend is based upon serial killer Charles Schmid, who murdered several young girls during the 1960s. In the analysis, Wiedemann
In Joyce Carol Oates’s short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” the main protagonist finds herself in a very hostile situation. With an all most fateful encounter with a man known as Arnold Friend. Forcing her to choose whether to run off with him or taking her by force. This man known as Arnold Friend to the reader comes off as almost a demon. A person who uses many temptations, word play, and threats to take advantage of the young protagonist Connie.