Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Arnold Friend Character Analysis

One story from the short story unit that depicts impossibilities is “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been.” Connie’s vanity is not abnormal; many teenagers who are her age and attractive act the same way. The impossibility of the story appears in the form of Arnold Friend. Whether he is Satan, a serial killer, Jesus, Bob Dylan, or none of the above, his presence seems odd. Arnold Friend seems to know too much about Connie’s life to simply be a stalker. He know that the rest of Connie’s family is at her aunt’s house. Arnold says while “squinting as if he were staring all the way to town and over to Aunt Tillie’s backyard,” that her family is sitting around and “right now they’re -- uh -- they’re drinking” (Oates 413). He also claims to be