Arnold Friend: Fact or Fiction?

The short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, is about a 15 year old girl named Connie who is caught up in the fantasies of adulthood and sexuality. She is home alone when a mysterious man, Arnold Friend, pulls in her driveway and tries to manipulate her into going away with him. Although it is never stated explicitly, it can be seen that Arnold Friend is merely a piece of Connie’s imagination. More specifically, we see Arnold as a symbol for the Devil, whose purpose is to change the way Connie and the audience of Oates’ story views life. This is symbolic from the minor details, such as the appearance of Arnold, to more subtle details such as the content of his dialogue, and perhaps more importantly, the apparent symbolism when this story is taken into historical context of the year it was printed, 1966. Some of the first, more deliberate clues Oates offers that reveals the fictional aspect of Arnold Friend’s character can be found in his appearance. He wore “Shaggy, shabby black hair that looked as crazy as a wig” with metallic glasses that “mirrored everything in miniature”(Oates, para 17). Also oates writes that “his whole face was a mask... as if he had plastered make-up on” and looks at Connie “sniffing as if she were a treat he was going to gobble up” (Oates, para 47). In describing the difficulty of the seemingly simple task of walking in boots: she writes, “one of his boots was at a strange angle, as if his foot wasn’t in it... bent at the ankle.... the boots must have been stuffed with something so that he would seem taller” (Oates, para 109). According to the Christian religion, it is known that the Devil is portrayed as a beast with cloven hoofs. Clearly, it would be difficult to navigate a pair of leather boots if one had cloven hooves as feet. Not only did Arnold friend find difficulties keeping his shoes on his lower extremities, but he even had trouble getting out of the car to stand and balance in a stationary position: “He slid out just as carefully, planting his feet firmly on the ground” and “he was standing in a strange way, leaning back against the car as if he were balancing himself” (Oates, para 60).
The author also gives two very important clues that Arnold friend is made up by Connie’s imagination. First, Connie is described as falling asleep just before Arnold arrives. On a hot summer day, laying under the exhausting sun, Connie dozes off and catches herself falling asleep “She shook her head as if to get awake” (Oates, para 13) right before she decides to go inside the house and is described calmly watching herself fall asleep to music inside her bedroom. Oates describes that Connie “breathed in and breathed out with each gentle rise and fall of her chest” (Oates, para 15). These examples imply that not only was she tired, but she resorted to her bed to relieve this exhaustion where she finally drifted off to her radio, “she sat on the edge of her bed, barefoot, and listened for an hour and a half to a program called XYZ Sunday Jamboree” (Oates, para 14). Second, Connie is described as an insecure, pubescent girl who is perhaps more susceptible to creating sexually deviant fictional characters than any girl would be. Oates demonstrates Connie’s insecurity when the mysterious car arrives, “her heart began to pound and her fingers snatched at her hair... wondering how bad she looked” (Oates, para 16). Illustrating Connie’s constant obsession with her image. Because Connie is so wrapped up in her image, her subconscious and dreaming mind is allowed to create Arnold Friend as a character who preys on these interests.
The Devil is a deceiving figure in religion whose goal involves preying on the weak and innocent by tempting and testing their self-control. Arnold Friend says things that play to Connies insecurities, that are thoughts and facts no human could possibly know. He caters specifically to Connie’s estrangement to her family and her desire to be mature when he refers to Connies house as her daddy’s house and says, “The place you came from ain’t there anymore, and where you had in mind to go is cancelled out” (Oates, para 132). His impossible identity is further revealed when he recites exactly where Connie's family is and what they are doing, “I know your parents and sister are gone somewheres and I know where and how long they’re going to be gone,” “they’re drinking. Sitting around.... There’s your sister in a blue dress, huh? And high heels, the poor sad bitch” (Oates, para 107).
It is now 2013, almost 50 years after this story was published, and to understand the purpose of Arnold Friend it is necessary to observe the historical context in which it was written. The 1960’s were a time when feminism, sexual freedom, and adolescent sexuality were mainstream ideas of the social revolution taking place. Understanding this gives the reader clarification as to why Arnold Friend was put into this story as the character he is. Oates uses him as a tool, directed to the advocates of this social revolution, to instill the vivid and sometimes terrifying realities of the adult world that the naive may sometimes overlook.
With a bit of critical observation and knowledge of American history, a reader of Joyce Carol Oates short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is provided the opportunity to discover Arnold Friend as what Oates may have intended him to be, a deceitful character with devilish qualities that can easily control those who, however unintentionally, subject themselves to this type of behavior through their own insecurity, lack of willpower, and naivete. Before anything else, the Devil wants to be your Friend.