Arnold Friend or Arnold Foe free essay sample

‘Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? ’, a short story by Joyce Carol Oates, takes place in the mid-sixties and revolves around two central characters, Connie and Arnold Friend, who mysteriously appears at Connie’s home and tries to coax her into coming with him before ultimately forcing her. Arnold Friend is a much debated character among critics, largely due to hints of inhuman abilities and his intentions for Connie. It is hard to determine the answers to these because there is no direct description of Arnold Friend that states what he is, nor is it revealed what happens to Connie in the end. The article ‘Connie’s Tambourine Man: A New Reading of Arnold Friend’ by Mike Tierce and John Crafton describes Arnold as a Bob Dylan reincarnation, messiah type figure who has come to save Connie from her family and childhood. However, Mike Tierce and John Crafton’s misinterpretation of Arnold Friend being a savior is wrong because they misconstrue Arnold’s intentions towards Connie, his physical appearance, the numbers on the side of his car, and the role music plays in the portrayal of Arnold Friend. Tierce and Crafton’s theory that Arnold is a savior is flawed because they misunderstand Arnold Friend’s intentions of freeing Connie from the limitations of a child. Tierce and Crafton believe Arnold Friend was conjured up by Connie’s imagination. Tierce and Crafton believe that he is a manifestation of all the desires Connie holds in her heart. Her wish to be a grown woman created a messiah named Arnold Friend, who came to her to take her away from her father’s home and set her free, saying to Connie, â€Å"we’ll go out to a nice field, out in the country here where it smells so nice and it’s sunny†(Joyce Carol Oates, 515). Taking the innocence and limitations that her age brings allows her to leave and go with Arnold Friend (Connie’s Tambourine Man: A New Reading of Arnold Friend). He also uses her strained relationship with her family to coax her into leaving. By saying, â€Å"they don’t know one thing about you and they never did† (Joyce Carol Oates, 516). Arnold is pointing out that he knows her, unlike her own flesh and blood, and can offer her a life without them. Clearly, Arnold’s intentions for Connie are of a sinister nature, even causing her to scream into the phone, so he cannot be a savior as Tierce and Crafton believe. In D. J. Piwinski’s criticism of Joyce Carol Oates’ story ‘Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? ’ he points out a similarity between a Bible verse and the story. Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy fathers house, unto a land that I will show thee (Genesis 12:1) is echoed in Friend’s persuasion to get Connie to leave her â€Å"daddy’s house† and his promise of taking her to â€Å"a nice field†. However, unlike the Promised Land â€Å"flowing with milk and honey† (Exodus 3:8) Piwinski pointed out that the place where Connie was going was described as unrecognizable (D.  J. Piwinski). A place where Friend will, â€Å"†¦ hold you so tight you won’t think you have to try to get away or pretend anything because you’ll know you can’t† (Joyce Carol Oates, 512). Meaning Connie will not be leaving that land and will likely be killed and left there. Along with misund erstanding Arnold’s intentions for Connie, Tierce and Crafton’s theory of Arnold being a savior is based on a misreading of Arnold Friend’s physical appearance. They associate Arnold Friend with Bob Dylan through the similarities in their physical appearances. They both share characteristics of long, crazy shaggy black hair, their long noses, clean-shaven faces, big teeth, and their thick, black eyelashes (Tierce and Crafton). Bob Dylan was God reincarnated in the eyes of his fans. A hero come to open their eyes to a new form of existence and self-awareness. Tierce and Crafton interpret the similarities in Dylan and Friend as a way of Oates hinting that Arnold was a hero type figure like Dylan. However, it is clear that Arnold’s appearance is not as Tierce and Crafton believe and instead point to qualities of a demon, which means Arnold is not a savior. Friends eyes, which described by Oates as â€Å"chips of broken glass†, reflect light like an animal’s eyes when light hits them directly. This could be his reasoning for wearing sunglasses (Joan Easterly). Friends crazy, black hair is a wig used to cover his pointed horns and ears. In some scenes Arnold is leaning against his car and is described as having difficulty walking, even having to hold onto a post on Connie’s porch to steady himself and keep his balance. This is because Friend’s boots are stuffed to allow his devilish hooves to rest inside. Joan Easterly points out that the author described one foot as bent and twisted  at an angle, which a normal human foot cannot do. Not only are Tierce and Crafton’s theory of Arnold being a savior wrong because of their judgment on his physical appearance, but they also misinterpret the numbers on the side of Arnold Friend’s car. Along with Tierce and Crafton, Mark Robson has connected the num bers 33, 19, 17, painted on the side of Arnold’s car, to a biblical verse Judges 19:17, with Judges being the 33 book of the Protestant Old Testament when counted backwards (C. Harold Hurley). The verse states, â€Å"When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, â€Å"Where are you going? Where did you come from? †(Judges 19:17). An almost direct parallel to the title ‘Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? ’ In contrast, it is clear that the numbers on Arnold’s car do not point to symbolic imagery of Christ, instead pointing to a verse within the Bible in which an old man asks a question, which does not make him a savior. When the numbers 33, 19, and 17 are added together the sum is 69. This number was a popular sexual symbol used by teenagers. C. Harold Hurley states in his article ‘Cracking the Code in Oatess Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?   that the more risque teens would wear this number in bold lettering on their clothing in the sixties, which is the time frame the story takes place. D. J. Piwinski’s interpretation of Arnold’s â€Å"secret code† points to Arnold’s true age, suggested by Connie when she realizes he is not a teenager but instead was â€Å"much older—thirty, maybe more,† and the ages of his previous two victims (D. J. Piwinski). Oates may have drawn inspiration from the deaths of three teenage girls murdered in Arizona by a real- rapist killer, whom Oates stated she modeled Arnold Friend after. This points to Friend’s sadistic sexual fantasies. Besides misunderstanding the numbers of Arnold’s car, Tierce and Crafton also misread the meaning behind the music’s role in the description of Arnold Friend. Throughout the story there are several references about music. Tierce and Crafton believe the music is associated to religion, â€Å"the music was always in the background, like music at a church service† is one of their examples of the correlation between the two (Joyce Carol Oates, 506). Tierce and Crafton also believed that it is a reference to the intentions of Arnold Friend, which they believe he is there to save Connie (Connies Tambourine Man: A New Reading of Arnold Friend). Their description of Arnold Friend also matches that of Bob Dylan, described by his fans as a king of Rock-and-Roll of the sixties, as stated earlier. Dylan was a messiah in the eyes of his fans, a prophet who has come to lead them into Consciousness. In the story the reference to â€Å"Mister Tambourine Man† is also considered a connection to Dylan because of his popular song in 1965 ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’. Oates has also hinted that she drew inspiration from listening to Bob Dylan’s song ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ for weeks. Arnold Friend is a personification of Bob Dylan’s popular music. Instead, the music points to the sadistic nature of Arnold and his wish to control Connie through the music, not the wrong comparison of Arnold to Bob Dylan by Tierce and Crafton. Joan Easterly points out, in her criticism of the story, that whenever Arnold is present in the story, so too is music. She also states that when Connie first sees Arnold her face is beaming from something that could possibly be the music. When Arnold arrives at her house, she is listening to music that made her joyful. This could be a way for Arnold to have her subconsciously connect those feelings she gets from the music to him (Joan Easterly). Connie was going to quit talking to Arnold until she realizes that Arnold is listening to the same station she is listening to. This music is familiar to her and reminds her of the drive-in where she has her dates with boys that are sweet and gentle with their â€Å"caresses of love†. Joan Easterly points out in her article ‘The Shadow of a Satyr in Oatess Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?   that the music to Connie is just as promised in the songs she listens to that describes young love that she so desperately seeks. When Connie refuses to go with Arnold, Ellie turns the volume of the radio up. This is a way for Arnold to control and entice Connie to trust him and to get her to come outside. She later realizes Arnold has a supernatural connection to th e music. This scares her and she wishes for him to leave but he threatens the lives of her family. If Arnold Friend was truly there for someone with the intentions of being a hero would not threaten the lives of the people Connie loves. The interpretations offered by Joan Easterly, D. J. Piwinski and C. Harold Hurley suggest darker qualities to the nature of Arnold Friend are very useful in understanding the true meaning of the story. These authors’ articles are more believable than that of Tierce and Crafton’s. Their evidence is not only compelling but also very thoughtful and accurate in the depiction of the mysterious Arnold Friend. Reading the story with the evidence offered by these authors will help the reader connect better with the story and the man Arnold Friend truly is.