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Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Character Analysis Essay

1092 Words5 Pages

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been is a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates, centered on the protagonist 15 year old Connie. In this short story Oates sets the frame-work for religious allegory- the seduction of a young woman coming to terms with the hand she has been dealt as a result of her choices [you need to something here] similar to that of Eve (Urbanski, 1978). In the first paragraph, we are introduced to Connie who is an eccentric, and spoiled fifteen year old with middle class parents. We become aware of the fact that Connie has an unhappy home life, the story states that her father “was away at work most of the time," and he "didn't bother talking much to them,"(422); as a result, Connie never received any form of love …show more content…

Oates portrays Arnold as an opposing force within Connie’s innocent fantasy world. Arnold is well aware of the fact that he can easily manipulate Connie and effortlessly corrupt the world in which she lives in, and nothing can prevent him from doing just that. He is the predator and Connie is his prey, he is committed to luring Connie either willingly or by force. Every extraneous detail about the appearance and behavior of Arnold epitomizes his dark and suspicious personality. A physical description of Arnold’s appearance indicates that he has “shaggy, shabby black hair that looked crazy as a wig” (424). His hair differs from Connie’s whose golden blonde hair is symbol of her innocence. When Oates describes the appearance of Arnold’s hair resembling that of a wig it is implied that this is a cover-up of some sort on his end. Arnold’s sunglasses send back images similar to that of a looking glass and they shield his eyes. The fact that his eyes are not visible to someone else it is a type of disguise he uses to cover up who he actually is. His sunglasses also constitute as symbol. His car symbolizes the dark nature of his appearance. The gold on his car epitomizes a flashy type of persona in order for him to appeal to younger

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When reading the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Arnold Friend shows an obvious masquerade to readers. His act of deception to Connie shows that he has done this before, and has succeeded. He tricks Connie by changing his appearance to make himself look younger than he actually is, playing the same music she listens to, and tells her he knows who her friends and family are. Connie is an easy target for Arnold because she is very boy crazy.

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When AF first appears at Connie’s home, she sees his qualities that are similar to the boys she likes: they all wore, “tight faded jeans stuffed into black, scuff boots, a belt that pulled his waist in and showed how lean he was, and white pull-over shirt that was a little soiled and showed the hard small muscles of his arms and shoulders” (par. 46). This man could be dressing to look like a person she would like, almost as if he was trying to fit in with his surroundings. He might be wearing a disguise to better his appearance because if he went out as the Devil, people would avoid him. Connie soon realizes this man is not who he says. Connie confronts about his age and continues to see more oddities about AF, “he had shaggy, shabby black hair that looked crazy as a wig” (par. 16).

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Arnold Friend’s Biblical Allusions In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Joyce Carol Oates tells a story of a young, innocent teenage girl, Connie who enjoys listening to music and begins exploring her sexuality and being with boys “the way it was in the movies and promised in songs” (Oates 198). In fact she catches the attention of Arnold Friend one night while at the mall meeting up with a boy. Not knowing he would appear in her life, Arnold strangely shows up at her house assuming they made plans to get together. His character is seen as the devil.

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