Where_Are_You,_Where_Have_U_Been

In the story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, the writer Joyce Carol Oates explains a story of a teenage girl named Connie, who is preoccupied with typical teenage concerns. She is beautiful, attractive and she feels that she lives in a home where she has no value. Connie does not love her home and always been scolded by her mom on different issues. There is a man who exerts enormous influence on Connie, pushing her out of her passive state and causing her to take an action. The man’s name is Arnold Friend and he is an evil person as well a savior who completely changes the life of Connie and brings her into a new world which she in unaware of. According to some critics, Arnold is a psycho killer who comes with the motive to kill Connie. There are numerous reasons which show that he is an evil person. Most importantly, the appearance and character of Arnold shows that he is a devil. Marie Urbanski argues that his feet resemble the “devil’s cloven hoofe” (Urbanski 219). His appearance hides his inner personality. He has a masklike face and his legs do not fit into his boots because they resemble goat’s legs which signify that of the devil’s legs. He is described as stumbling, as if there are cans placed inside his boots and this appearance is reference to a real serial killer. Furthermore, Winslow argues that “Connie’s fear, and uncertainty emerge in the shape of Arnold Friend” (Winslow, 268). This clearly shows that he is an evil man who wanted to harm Connie and murder her. In addition, the number 33, 19, 17 painted on the car of the Arnold reflects a secret code. To some critics, they think that this is an age pattern adopted by Arnold in choosing a victim to murder. As this goes in to a chronological order, it shows that the next turn is of Connie who is 15. That is why that he wants to take Connie for a ride so that he can kill her. Moreover, it is also assumed that Arnold Friend has characteristics of Satan because he has a supernatural knowledge of Connie and her family. He is credited with “intimate, even Satanic knowledge of her family’s doings” (Quirk, 417). Arnold frightened Connie by telling her all about all the movements of her family which threatens her so much that she starts crying and shouting. A normal person cannot give so much accurate information about somebody so this reflects that Arnold had some evil and super powers. In the story, when Arnold says to Connie “Gonna get you, baby” (822), this is a sign of his evilness and he wants to capture her.