Criticism on Joyce Carol Oates "Where are you going, where have you been"
...him. Like other females her age, Connie is wary of the stranger. However, as he continues to beleaguer her, she begins to notice certain aspects of his physical appearance and emotional behavior and decides that she will not succumb to his wishes. Although it is to no avail, Arnold Friend forces her to leave with him, while she is unknowing of what will happen to her in the future. By creating Connie as the central character of the story, Oates gives the reader the opportunity to experience the situation from their own eyes and in their point of view. Due to the fact that the audience of whom Oates’ has written to will have already experienced the weak, easily-manipulated years of their lives, the character of Connie can be replaced with their own life’s character. The audience has the ability to become Connie. The way in which Oates chooses to describe the devil and/or death is excellent in that even the first glimpse of him is alarming due to the comment he says to her. He is a boy with black hair, dressed in clothes that Connie adores for boys to wear during this point in time. It has been said that the devil will dress in sheep’s clothing, so that he may misguide and manipulate one into following him. David Rehak, author of “A Young Girl’s Crimes,” states about Connie that “she is completely under his manipulative sway” (“Too Much…”) Oftentimes, darkness and evil have been associated with the color black, and Oates creates Arnold’s hair with the color black to be a representation of this. When he appears at Connie’s home, he reveals that his name is Arnold Friend and proceeds to say, “I’m gonna be your friend” (429). At first, he seems as if he is a normal male, inviting her to ride in his car with him and his friend Ellie. He seems so until he removes his sunglasses to reveal the paleness of the skin surrounding his eyes that resemble the empty darkness of the eye sockets of a skull. Connie also notices that, although he states that he is only eighteen years of age, she feels that he looks as if he is at least thirty years old. Arnold’s masquerading as a peer of her age so that he may gain her trust is another example of the methods by which a manipulator gains control of the victim. Another instance when the true identity of Arnold Friend is revealed is when he displays that he is able to observe the activities of Connie’s family although they are miles away from their location. He begins to talk about where they are and who is attending the gathering. He describes the setting for Connie. “‘Aunt Tillie’s. Right now they’re- uh- they’re drinking. Sitting around,’ he said vaguely, squinting as if he were staring all the way to town and over to Aunt Tillie’s back yard. Then the vision seemed to clear, and he nodded energetically” (433). This is a clear interpretation of the evil that surrounds Arnold Friend, and how he, as a devil, tries to pull Connie into his world of darkness. Oates illustrates the fatal attractions of the devil and death by showing how easily they both may enter when the door is opened. It has been described as “a chilling tale of a young adolescent, tantalized by glamorous surfaces, unable to resist more satanic designs” (Bender). Death first appears when Connie is pretending to be what she is not. Near the beginning of the narrative, Oates describes the two selves of Connie: the public self and private self. For example, Oates describes Connie’s walk as “childlike and bobbing or languid” (426). I believe that when one begins to act two-faced in many aspects, they start to lose the innocence they once had. Dianne Marlowe describes the loss of innocence due to her encounter with Arnold Friend, “At first, Connie is still innocent enough to participate in what seems to her, at least on ...