Where Are You Going Where Have You Been And Young Goodman Brown Analysis

Through plot, Oates demonstrates how Arnold Friend can be seen as a symbolic Satan. Plot starts when Arnold makes sure to tell Connie he is interested in her as he says,“Gonna get you baby” (Oates 1). Connie is in a drive-in restaurant for an older crowd when Arnold sees her for the first time. Once Connie leaves the drive-in dinner with a boy named Eddie, Arnold decides to make a move on Connie. Arnold uses foreshadowing to let her know he will meet her again. Just as Arnold says he is going to get Connie, he shows up in her driveway, creating a creepy situation. That Sunday afternoon, Connie is alone in her house while her parents and sister are on a picnic at one of their neighbor’s house, Arnold decides to use this opportunity to make his

In the story “Where are you Going, Where Have you been?” Joyce Carol Oates tells us about a fifteen year old girl named Connie. Connie is confronted by a young man who is trying to persuade her to take a ride with him. He introduces himself as Arnold Friend and kindly asks her to come with him but she refused. He then threatens Connie and her family. She is then forced outside and leaves with Arnold Friend. Arnold Friend clearly symbolizes the devil through his physical traits, his knowledge of Connie, and his power over her kind of like he was hypnotizing her to go with him.

Besides Arnold Friend physical appearance, which makes the reader assume that his character is not a human being, Oates gives him supernatural powers that a normal person could not have. One example of this is the power that he has over Connie; he knows everything that involves her: “ 'Just for a ride, Connie sweetheart.' Arnold Friend says. 'I never said that my name was Connie, she said.' And he replies: 'But I know what it is. I know your name and all about you, a lots of things, Arnold Friend said' ”(584-585). The security of Arnold Friend words gives to reader the impression that he has been watching her closely and all the time without her knowing it or noticing it. This confirms the reader’s hypothesis that Friend's is Satan. Moreover, when Connie tries to hide from him in her house, Arnold manipulates her into leaving the house simply by telling her what to do, like a puppeteer and his puppet: “You won’t want your family to get hurt. Now get up all by yourself. Now turn this way. That’s right. Come over here to me. Now come out through the kitchen to me honey and let’s see a smile, try it, you are brave sweet little girl”(591). Oates makes the reader infer that Satan’s only way to make her comes out is by using his demon powers, because the devil cannot get into your house unless you have invited him in. Therefore, he uses his

The short story “Where are you going, Where have you been” by Joyce Carol Oates was published in 1966. The story was purposely written for Bob Dylan, who’s song “It’s all over now, Baby Blue” had a great influence on the story. story Oates gives us many descriptions of the characters to give the reader a better understanding of what the character is feeling, thinking, and shows their personalities through their actions. The story also includes many signs and a great deal of symbolism. In this analysis, I will explore is Arnold friend representing an evil entity or is he simply genuinely trying to be Connie’s friend. A character by the name of Arnold Friend could potentially be a symbol of a demonic force, or even the devil.

Based on the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, the setting reveals Connie’s deep desire in her dreams to be with someone like Arnold Friend. Joyce Carol Oates states in the story that “when she opened her eyes she hardly knew where she was”(Oates 2). This quote shows that this is a dream because Connie wakes up and is confused about where she is at. Almost as if she’s in another world and is lost. When you dream you’re confused sometimes because it can feel so real but at the same time you don’t recognize what is going on and where you are so it confused you just as Connie was. Through setting, Oates uses setting to prove Connie is in a dream. Oates states that “She shook her head as if to get awake”(Oates 2). This quote shows how Connie tries to wake herself up from a bad dream. You can tell because she was shaking her head like she was having a nightmare. That nightmare would be Arnold Friend trying to get her to come

In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, by Joyce Carol Oates, Arnold Friend, the menacing antagonist, seems a part of Connie. He is able to manipulate her and seem to her that he is right next to her when in actuality he is still outside of the house. At first it seems like Connie is scared and acting out because of it, but it later becomes apparent when, “She cried out, she cried out for her mother, she felt her breath start jerking back and forth in her lungs(Oates 7). Arnold has convinced her and he is now in control of her almost as from the inside. The quote mentions her breath start jerking back and forth in her lungs causing an inability to call out to her mother.

For example, her mother nags, “Why don't you keep your room clean like your sister? How've you got your hair fixed- What the hell stinks? Hairspray? You don't see your sister using that junk” (1408). The real trouble begins when Connie encounters Arnold Friend. Arnold Friend, an older guy around his thirties, poses as a teen boy to make himself look younger, and he is very seductive to younger women. Arnold Friend was introduced in the beginning of the story yelling to Connie, “Gonna get you, baby” (1409). Later in the story, on a Sunday, afternoon Connie's family leaves, and Arnold arrives at her house. Surprisingly, Arnold knows everything about her, her friends, her family. He knew Connie's weaknesses which is she easily being manipulated and using her vanity to lure her and took advantage of her. Therefore, the relationship between Arnold and Connie can hurt her and even her family if she does not go with him. “Where are You Going, Where Have you Been,” illustrates the fact that adolescents are not prepared for the dangers of the world of because the lack of attention, encounters with strangers, and temptations

We all know what Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? tells us in black and white, but the real debate however is what it implies. There are many theories of what the underlying meaning of Where Are You, Going Where Have You Been? In this great debate there is only one real world situation that could have actually occurred in the story. That theory is that the entire part about Arnold Friend is a dream. The section of the story I have chosen unquestionably proves that Connie is in fact dreaming.

It’s a beautiful, sunny, summer Sunday and you’re home alone after having a great time the night before and a car pulls into your driveway. What do you do? Instead of staying inside and waiting until the car eventually leaves, Connie approached the man that would eventually lead to her defeat. Connie is a very insecure character, she goes out wearing things her mother would not approve of to hang out with boys. Arnold is a stalker who preyed on Connie’s insecurities to fulfill his sinister needs. In the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Joyce Carrol Oates uses the characterization of Arnold Friend to foreshadow the grave outcome of her story.

In Joyce Carol Oates's short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, the main character, Connie fills her life with bad choices; one of her choices and her endless vanity leads to her death. Connie fills her life with many bad influences and sneaks out late to hang out with older boys. Connies was confronted by a man named Arnold Fiend one night at the restaurant and he said “Gonna get you, baby.” He comes back into her life and seems to be very suspicious, he seems to know a little too much about Connie, more than he should know. Connie is sucked into his trap and is dragged into what becomes her certain death.

“Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne can be interpreted in one of two ways. Some people believe it was all just one big bad dream, others believe it actually happened. Either way you interpret it can be right, there isn’t a right or wrong answer, you just have to support your answers. I believe that it was all a dream, and Young Goodman Brown woke up with a completely corrupt mind that cost him his life. This is because Goodman Brown’s good friends never even acknowledged him, his wife who wanted him to stay home was out there, and everything was normal when he woke up.

The journey taken by Young Goodman Brown in his discovery of the evil in the world itself is both symbolic and mysterious, for the purpose, while that purpose must be important to draw young Brown away on this night, is never explained. It is offered as an important duty, a duty that is almost religious for the young man, but at the same time there is in the way the young man approaches the task the aura of evil to be met and fought. He worries that the devil himself might be following him, and indeed he does meet the devil and converse with him freely. The idea that this is all a dream is evident from the first as the young man worries about dreams and his wife:

Within Nathaniel Hawthorne and Stephen King's short stories “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Man in the Black Suit”, readers follow two protagonists as they have a encounter with the devil. The devil is presented differently with each of the novels through elements such as appearance, goals and language. Both protagonists, each who is quite innocent, is affected by these features in some way.

The devil, is known for capturing sinners by tempting them with evil. One sin, is sexual promiscuity, as the abuse of sexuality is an abuse of a gift given by God. A widely held belief, is that the body's a temple given by God. However, Connie treats her body the opposite of a temple, and instead uses it for pleasure and to fill her desires. Coonie’s desires lead to Arnold Friend, the devil, being able to capture her. Despite the multiple warning givens to Connie by Arnold, that she needs to change her behavior or she will eventually be captured, Connie, oblivious, continues acting in a negative manner. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie’s sexual activities lead to Arnold the devil capturing her, which is revealed by the characterization and the surroundings of Arnold Friend.

Rooted deep within each individual, hides a bit of evil; for some it may be more, others less. In the story “Young Goodman Brown” it tells of a man, Goodman Brown, who ventures into an eerie forest in Salem and is met by a man who developes an uncanny resemblance to the devil. In the forest, those who Goodman Brown have seen to be pure and innocent, are shown to have a more sinister side. Goodman Brown is determined to go no further; but, as he sits, he begins to witness things he did not expect to see or hear. The experience startles Goodman Brown so much that, when he returns, he is no longer able to trust anyone. “Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness”. This gives insight to the theme of the story, there is potential evil in everyone.