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Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?": Arnold Fiend - Online Term Papers

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 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, ...

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energy,
so we should also be sensitive to Arnold's multifaceted and creative nature”
(Tierce and Crafton 608). Mike Tierce and John Michael Crafton suggest
that Arnold Friend is not a diabolical figure, but instead a religious and
cultural savior.
On a more realistic note, Joyce M. Wegs argues the symbolism of
Arnold Friend as a Satan figure when she writes: “Arnold is far more a
grotesque portrait of a psychopathic killer masquerading as a teenager; he
also has all the traditional, sinister traits of that arch deceiver and
source of grotesque terror, the devil”(616). She also writes about how the
author sets up the idea of a religious, diabolical figure when she links
popular music and its values as Connie's perverted version of a religion.
Another hint is Arnold's almost supernatural, mysterious knowledge about
Connie, her family and her friends(Wegs 617).
The main reason why the reader would extract this diabolical symbol
from reading the story is that Arnold's ...

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Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?": Arnold Fiend. (2007, December 11). Retrieved March 29, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Oates-Where-You-Going-Where-Have/75660
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"Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?": Arnold Fiend." Essayworld.com. December 11, 2007. Accessed March 29, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Oates-Where-You-Going-Where-Have/75660.
"Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?": Arnold Fiend." Essayworld.com. December 11, 2007. Accessed March 29, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Oates-Where-You-Going-Where-Have/75660.
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PAPER DETAILS
Added: 12/11/2007 02:08:59 PM
Category: English
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 554
Pages: 3

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