“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”
The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” written by Joyce Carol Oates has become a challenge for critics all over the world, who try to find out the meanings of this literary work as well as reveal the true identity of Arnold Friend. In the article “Connie’s Tambourine Man: A New Reading of Arnold Friend” Mike Tierce and John Michael Crafton argues the most widespread assumption of Arnold’s being a devil and offers new interpretations of this character. According to the authors, Arnold both resembles Bob Dylan and represents the part of Connie’s teenager imagination. Arnold Friend is one of the most complicated images in American literature that can represent everything ranging from devil and death to God, from Bob Dylan to a serial killer, from reality to illusion.
Tierce and Crafton does not support a widespread assumption that Arnold Friend represents the devil, although there are clues in his behavior that might indicate his demonic nature. The fact that he is evil or at least crazy becomes clear at the beginning of the story when Arnold claims that he will eventually get Connie. However, “Connie turned away again without Eddie noticing anything”, thus, the man was probably visible only for Connie (Oates, n.d.). It means that he may be a devil, who came in order to get Connie and nobody else, thus, Eddie couldn’t and needn’t see him. Both readers and Connie understand that Arnold cannot be trusted; however, he manages to hold everybody’s attention firmly throughout the whole story. His image is similar to the image of Satan in Milton’s “Paradise Lost”. Despite the fact that Arnold is evil, he possesses a gift of being intriguing, mysterious and captivating. Similarly to Milton’s Satan, who tried to corrupt the mankind, Arnold Friend is trying to mislead Connie and take her to his realm. It is striking that although Connie finds the conversation with Arnold crazy from the very beginning, she does not try to escape from it but continues to talk with the man. This might indicate his power, which forced girl to stay there and prevent her from noticing the threat right away.
At the same time Arnold Friend may also indicate Connie’s death. It is significant that the work was originally called “Death and the Maiden”. As there are only two main characters, it is clear that the title is about Connie and Arnold, where Connie is definitely a maiden and Arnold is death. Their first meeting looks like a warning for Connie. When she meets Arnold the second time, she is not willing to go for a ride with him but finally she is forced to give up. The same things usually happen when people die. Firstly, they get a warning which may be a dream, premonition or another sign. In the story Arnold’s words (“Gonna get you baby”) and sudden scream may serve as the warning for Connie (Oates, n.d.). Secondly, when people meet death, they are still not able to come to terms and realize that the end is heading towards them. Connie continues to negotiate with Friend, despite knowing that she is in deadlock all alone. Moreover, although the ending of the story is quite ambiguous, it is possible to assume that Connie is going to die because Friend forces her to go with him.
Tierce and Crafton also point out in their article that some critics viewed Friend as a God. This theory may be explained by Connie’s exclamations “Christ! Christ” when Arnold arrives (Oates, n.d.). To support this point of view, the critics also name music, which often symbolizes church and is constantly playing in Connie’s room and Arnold’s car. God symbolizes a new beginning, and in the end of the story Connie is going to the land she has never seen before. However, this theory crushes when it faces numerous contradictions. First of all, God cannot be rude, predatory and rapacious. Secondly, the music playing on the background was far from being religious. Thirdly, Connie is more likely to die in Arnold’s arms, and death is unlikely to be a new bright start for the fifteen-year girl.
In the article “Connie’s Tambourine Man: A New Reading of Arnold Friend” Arnold is associated with Bob Dylan because of his music played in the story as well as similarities in their appearances. The story was dedicated to Bob Dylan, and this fact could have played a crucial role in this comparison. It seems arguable that Arnold is Bob Dylan because there is not enough evidence. Similar appearance does not turn Arnold to Bob, and even the fact that the story was dedicated to him does not sound convincing. “Jane Eyre” was dedicated to William Thackeray but it does not mean that Mr. Rochester is the literal copy of Thackeray. Dylan’s music is very important for the understanding of the story because it basically predicts some of the events, however, Bob Dylan himself cannot be found in Arnold Friend.
It is a well-known fact that the story of Charles Schmidt, a serial killer, serves as an inspiration for “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” as well as Bob Dylan’s song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”. Arnold’s behavior is quite similar to a mad man, whose intentions are evil. Moreover, it is bewildering that he knows everything about his victims. Like most murderers he has found the information about Connie beforehand in order to be prepared. That version of Friend’s identity seems the most appealing, however, it is doubtful whether the story can be understood literally and the deeper meaning should be omitted.
More thorough analysis reveals the astonishing moment that Arnold might be a part of fifteen-year girl’s imagination, which depicted the most vivid and unusual pictures in her head. Connie’s life revolved about dreaming where she found a better reality, a reality that was satisfactory for her and allowed to distract from her mother’s pressure. Connie has gone so far while dreaming that she pictured Arnold’s arrival. Friend’s age can be used to support this theory. Connie was bored while communicating with Eddie, who was her peer. That was the reason why she imagined an older and more experienced man, who could provide her with thrill and new emotions. However, the girl was not able to picture a thirty-year-old man because she was mostly surrounded with the boys of her own age. Thus, she imagined Arnold’s being more like a fifteen-year-old boy, who tried to seem higher than he is, wobbled, promised love and unforgettable adventures and lied about his own age. The most difficult in Arnold’s analysis is to view his as a real man because the whole situation seems extremely unrealistic.
All things considered, Arnold Friend is a complex image that may include numerous interpretations. It is impossible to reduce Arnold to one person or one particular character because he consists of many parts that are combined together and form his unique personality. All of the critics’ assumptions about who he really is have sense and are quite reasonable but in this case it is impossible to find one and only explanation of Arnold’s true identity. The readers should decide on their own what Arnold represents but I believe he is a part of Connie’s powerful imagination, which was eager for thrill and escape from routine life and created an image that will add adrenaline into Connie’s blood. Yet she was unable to cope with her creation that took control over her at the end of the story.