FratFiles

• Save Paper

Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?": Arnold Fiend


In Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"
critics argue whether the character of Arnold Friend, clearly the story's
antagonist, represents Satan in the story. Indeed, Arnold Friend is an
allegorical devil figure for the main reason that he tempts Connie, the
protagonist, into riding off with him in his car.
Oates characterizes Arnold Friend at first glance as "a boy with shaggy,
black hair, in a convertible jalopy painted gold"(581). She lets the reader
know that Arnold is not a teenager when Connie begins to notice the features
such as the painted eyelashes, his shaggy hair which looked like a wig, and his
stuffed boots; these features led her to believe he was not a teenager, but in
fact, much older. Oates does make Arnold out to be a psychopathic stalker, but
never objectively states the diabolical nature to his character.
In "Connie's Tambourine Man", a critical essay on the story,......

View the rest of this paper...

Approximate Word Count: 503
Approximate Pages: 3 (250 words per double-spaced page)

Similar Essays

1. Oates' &Quot;Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?&Quot;: Arnold Fiend
   

   Oates' "where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?": Arnold Fiend Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?": Arnold Fiend In Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where

2. Poetry Discussion
   

   Discussion Brooke Miller Shannon Lawson English 115-01 October 15, 2006 BEWARE of A. Fiend, He's the Devil! In Joyce Weigs' critical interpretation of "Where Are You Going,

3. Arnold Friend In &Quot;Where Are You Going, Where Hare You Been?&Quot;
   

   plastered make-up on his face and had forgotten about his throat," add to the notion that Arnold Fiend was put together, not born, and gives Connie another reason to distrust him.

4. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
   

   but with the Prince of Darkness. These readers have pointed out similarities between Arnold Friend and the devil: his disguise, his supernatural knowledge of the whereabouts

5. Where Are You Going, Where Hav
   

   "R" in Arnold and the "R" in Friend he takes on a new, possibly truer identity: AN OLD FIEND." Arnold Friend interpretation of the Devil or evil is quite vast. So much has been