The Hidden Identity of Arnold Friend

The Hidden Identity of Arnold Friend

The world is full of people who portray themselves as someone or something else. People

usually hide their identity to obtain things that they want. It is common to be fooled by someone's

appearance. In Joyce Carol Oates's, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been," Arnold

Friend is an example of someone trying to trick another person into believing that he is something

that he is not. In the story, a girl named Connie is confronted by a man who is trying to persuade

her to "take a ride" with him in his car. She had seen this man the night before staring at her in the

drive in so she was a little scared that this man was now on her doorstep, not to mention she was

alone. He began by friendly asking to come with him, but after she denied him he became

threatening to her and her family. She runs into the house filled with fear but then finds herself not

able to call for help. She then walks back outside controlled by a strange force and going with

Arnold Friend. Arnold Friend clearly symbolizes the devil through his nonhuman physical traits,

his clairvoyant knowledge of Connie, her family, and friends, and his dominant power over her

even though she knows he is evil.

First, Arnold Friend has many nonhuman characteristics. The story describes Arnold

Friends hair by saying, "he had shaggy, shabby black hair that looked crazy as a wig" (Oates 285).

Joyce Wegs says in her essay about the story that his hair really is a wig suggesting that he could

be wearing it to cover up his horns (357). In addition, the story describes how careful he is when

putting his sun glasses on his head (289) as if he is trying not to reveal something. The story also

says, "He was standing in...

... middle of paper ...

...t amount of information about Connie, and he tells Connie what her family is doing at

that same moment which suggests he has nonhuman psychic abilities. Also, he has an unexplained

domination over Connie which suggests he has the power of possession. All of these things are

common characteristics of the Devil. Weg's says, "Arnold is far more than 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" (357). Connie failed to recognize that

looks are deceiving. Arnold Friend looked "cool" therefore she trusted him at first, and

got herself into a situation that she could not escape. Arnold Friend is a prime example of the

saying, "Don't judge a book by its color."