Arnold Friend Annotation

Satanic References in Literature Depictions of the ultimate force of evil have existed for thousands of years. In Christianity, the name Satan or Lucifer has been given to define this evil, depicting him as a half human and half goat. Lucifer is fabled to exist since the beginning of time. Due to Lucifer being the representation of the most ancient evil, he is presented in many different forms in dark literature. This is shown in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, a character, Arnold Friend, and his sidekick, Ellie, reference Lucifer in both imagery and secret code.

Lucifer has many false personas. This is because if Lucifer openly revealed his true character, it would be obvious for all to stay away. A false persona is also extremely present in the short story’s antagonist, known as Arnold Friend, in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”. Arnold Friend’s entire appearance is fake. The text states, “His whole face was a mask, she thought wildly, tanned down to his throat but then running out as if he’d plastered makeup on his face but had forgotten about his throat,” (Oates 7). Not only is Arnold Friend plastered in makeup in attempt to cover up his true age, he also appears to have fake

In the Book of Revelation, Lucifer has been described as, “The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him” (Revelation 12:9). The Book of Revelation illustrated Lucifer as being a serpent creature. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Joyce Carol Oates wrote in reference to Arnold Friend, “That slippery friendly smile of his,” as well as, “He grinned so broadly his eyes became slits” (Oates 5). The text conveys that Arnold Friend has qualities of a serpent. This imagery hints Arnold Friend and Lucifer are the same