The Devil In Joyce Carol Oates Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

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In Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” she is representing how sinful people attract the devil and why this is dangerous. This short story can be interpreted in a literal sense or even a non-literal sense. I took this in a way that the author was trying to make us aware of the devil’s consequences for our actions. Connie, the main character, is sinful and therefore attracts the devil, Arnold Friend. First off, the author displays this main character, Connie, as sinful. In the story, it states, “[Connie] knew she was pretty and that was everything.” which gives the reader an impression that Connie is full of herself and self-centered (page 225). Looking at this from the christian standpoint, the bible states “People who are self-centered are unable to please god” (Roman 8:8, CEB). Therefore, it would be apparent the devil would then be attracted to Connie. Not only was Connie sinful in that way, but the story also has evidence pointing to her committing adultery. The story doesn’t explicitly state Connie had sexual relations with this boy named Eddie, however, it does sound suspicious when it states “She spend three hours with him...and then down an alley a mile or so away” (page 226). Again, even though it doesn’t come out and say she did anything …show more content…
If Connie was not sinfully attracting, Arnold Friend would have never picked up on her and she would have never been in the horrible situation she was put in. Moreover, the name “Christ” has been taken in vain several times throughout the story which gives me the impression that we should be taking this in the non-literal way. Joyce Carol Oates is known to be very strategic and clever with her words and it’s not a coincidence for her to keep using the lord’s name in vain throughout this piece. For these reasons, I believe Connie represents the sinner and Arnold, the
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