An_Unconscious_Friend

An Unconscious Friend “ ‘ Who the hell do you think you are’ Connie said. ‘Toldja I’d be out, didn’t I'’ ‘I don’t even know who you are.’ ” (Oates 1227) Fear and uncertainty have come to fifteen-year-old Connie in the form of a “boy with shaggy black hair, in a convertible jalopy painted gold” (Oates 1225) in Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Where Are You Going' Where Have You Been'” The boy, who readers learn is named Arnold Friend, comes to the insecure and culture-obsessed Connie one random Sunday afternoon and eventually uses his manipulative powers to lure Connie away from her home to meet an uncertain fate. Like Connie, readers find themselves wondering exactly who Arnold Friend is and what his role in the story means. Oates, when speaking about Friend, said that he is “a fantastic figure: he is Death, he is the ‘elf-knight’ of the ballads, he is the imagination, he is dream, he is a lover, a demon and all that” (Franco). As one can tell, Arnold’s meaning in the story is subject to debate. While some argue that Arnold Friend is a psychopathic killer or Satan incarnate, he is actually a collection of Connie’s unconscious arnold, connie, friend, oates, one, connie’s, about, thoughts, been, yet, while, story, arnold’s, way, schmid, satan, representative, readers, murderer, ideas, form, devil, desires, come, appearance, unconscious, say, same, said, psychopathic, knowledge, killer, jalopy, home