Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Character Analysis Essay

“On a dark and stormy night sometime in 1735, a Quaker woman gave birth to a child”(Johnson and Munn 1). This child would be cursed by its mother for it to be the devil, “or more specifically ‘let it be the Devil!’ ” (Parkes). When the Devil was born it changed to have a kangaroo-like body with the face of a goat; it had bat-like wings, a forked tail, horns, and hooves. “After being born, the child changed into a Devil and as it flew away into the night it killed the midwife that helped birth it”(Parkes).

Is Rock ‘n’ Roll really the devil's music? Joyce Carol Oates wrote “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” and dedicated it to Bob Dylan after she claimed the story is influenced by Dylan's haunting song “It's All Over Now, Baby Blue”. (Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”) “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is full of symbolism that represents elements such as evil and loss of innocence. In the story, Arnold Friend symbolizes the devil, and if you take the R’s out of his name, it spells “An Old Fiend”.

While both of the short stories “The Devil and Tom Walker” and “The Devil and Daniel Webster” are both used to show the downfall of wealth, the two stories vary in many different ways. Both short stories have detailed descriptions of the devil, both had some ‘religion’ involved, and both had conclusions which were for the most part resolved. The short stories both indicate to the reader how the devil is portrayed. “The Devil and Tom Walker” depicts the devil as a black man dressed in some form of Indian garments and he looked like he worked with fire.

He could have seen her only once before and decided to find her. It does not seem that he is human, as he knows too much, even for a stalker. Most stalkers cannot see that “your mother’s helping some fat woman with the corn.” He may represent the harsh reality of going from childhood to adulthood, or a possibility of what could happen to Connie if she continues her sexual behavior. It would not be her fault, it is simply what might

Arnold Friend, the story’s antagonist, he is strange and ambiguous individual. He is presumed to be a devil a savior, a psychopath, and a supernatural being; Arnold Friend’s characteristics are unclear. Connie’s character is rooted in herself emotions, relationships, and history, Arnold Friend just come out, with no background. In the story it becomes clear he is not who he portrays to be.

Arnold Friend’s Biblical Allusions In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Joyce Carol Oates tells a story of a young, innocent teenage girl, Connie who enjoys listening to music and begins exploring her sexuality and being with boys “the way it was in the movies and promised in songs” (Oates 198). In fact she catches the attention of Arnold Friend one night while at the mall meeting up with a boy. Not knowing he would appear in her life, Arnold strangely shows up at her house assuming they made plans to get together. His character is seen as the devil.

Myles Hypse February 3rd, 2017 English 1B 3:30-4:40pm Two Psychopaths Both of these stories give the reader a good look into the eyes of two psychopaths, who both refuse to take no for an answer. One of them, Arnold Friend although at first appearing friendly, is nothing more than a malicious predator, similar in kind to The Misfit, who greets his victims in a much more sinister way. The two characters, when stood side by side, almost seemed as they become one, yet are polar opposites. When one compares the character Arnold Friend to that of The Misfit, more similarities come forward than differences.

It is quite possible that Connie has just invented Arnold Friend based on her love of music, at one point in the story it seems like Connie is falling asleep while listening to XYZ Sunday Jamboree and all of the sudden Arnold Friend shows up coincidently listening to the same thing. Instead of saying Arnold Friend knows Connie’s name and many things about her because he is the devil, you could say that Arnold Friend knows all of that because he is described as

In the Stephen King short story, The Man in The Black Suit, the narrator Gary recounts an experience from his childhood that scared him permanently. When he was nine, Gary was tormented and stalked though the woods by the devil, who manifested himself after Gary wandered into the woods. During their interaction, the Devil lies to Gary and says that his mother just died at home. The Devil claimed that Gary’s mother was killed in a similar way that his brother, Dan, was also killed not too long ago, as she was apparently stung by a bee and is dead in his kitchen. Gary knows the Devil is a liar but finds it difficult to resist believing him.

This interpretation of the story explains how Connie simply fell prey to the common theme of men acting as predators in society. Therefore, Connie had no say in her fate, so she just decided to go quietly with him. However, this theory completely disregards the psychological disorders that Connie has. Connie did not go quietly with Arnold because he was a dominating male. Instead, Connie left due to her numerous unconscious mental problems.

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” is about a teenager named Connie who is trying to come to terms with her transformation from childhood to adulthood. Through this process, Connie attempts to act older than she is an tries to gain the attention of boys. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Joyce Oates portrays Connie as obsessed with men to symbolize how one’s obsession and narcissistic attitude can cause danger to seem surreal. In the short story, Carol Oates describes Connie as having two different personalities, one being a narcissistic attitude.

In both “The Devil and Daniel Webster and “The Devil and Tom Walker, they both came face to face with the devil. They had different strategies on how to confront the devil. In the two short stories, the resolution, the depictions of the devil, and the role of religion or the saving grace are the similar and different things. The main idea of both stories is the resolution of what had happened to Daniel and Tom.

In the bible the devil walked on his heels . Arnold is doing the same by stuffing his boots essentially. This is a example of how he can be compared to the devil. This data shows how the antagonist , Arnold Friend is deceitful by making himself appear younger than

Despite their deeply religious values, the members of the Puritan Society in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible are equally as sinful as the rest of the world. The Puritans, known for coming to God when given any matter at hand, lay blame on the Devil, regardless of their contradictory values. By putting blame on him for their wrongdoings, the Devil earns power by the Puritans resorting to involving him in a situation whenever any one thing goes wrong. Power is defined by one’s reputation, status, wealth, gender, and age.

Connie played with that spirit to such an extreme level. Connie wanted to be that girl that could do what she want and want to be free. Now her friends were no saint either they played with the same spirit, but I personally think that Connie went entirely too far with playing with it. Now growing up I always heard if you allow the devil to ride he will take over the wheel well that’s exactly what he did to Connie. Now don’t get me wrong part of it was on her parents, because her mother never stood her ground as a mother would and her father just simply went to work and did what he wanted.