Arnold Parallelism

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Essay
With the elements, parallels, and biblical strands to the bible laced within the story, Oates is able to discus how humans tend to often give into deceitful tendencies and how in today society false icons and concepts have replaced religion.
To begin with, Oates uses the elements of parallelism to the bible to communicate the understanding that the different strands of Arnolds Friend’s appearance and actions are not that of a normal person. When Arnold first makes an appearance in the story, he appears to be that of any normal guy, although the more Connie looked at him and read into his actions she was able to determine that there was some aspects about him that were strange and posed as a server …show more content…
evil. Throughout the story Connie, while she may be wild and adventurous, is also seen as an innocent girl that was faced with pure evil itself. This could have been caused by the fact that Connie didn’t come from a religious background and lacked a strong religious base in her life and “none of them bothered with church” on Sundays. (Oates) Connie’s encounter with Arnold showcases what an innocent little girl she truly is while Arnold is the evil trying to corrupt her. At one point in the story Arnold tells Connie that “This is how it is” and if she doesn’t “come out [their] gonna wait till your people come home and then they're all going to get it." (Oates) This causes Connie’s to go into the house grasping the phone while “she cried out, she cried for her mother” because she know that she will probably never see them again. (Oates) This highlights that while Connie has been shown to have made some questionable decisions in the story when put into the situation she really is just an innocent girl that’s about to be torn away from the only thing she’s ever known. Eddie and Arnold coming into Connie’s life also represent the contrast between innocent and evil. After spending an evening with Eddie, Connie is able to picture how “nice he had been, how sweet it always was, not the way someone like June would suppose but sweet, gentle, the way it was in movies and promised in songs.” (Oates) While Arnold is the sinister figure that comes into her life proclaiming that he was “Gonna get [her], baby” and later on following suit on this. (Oates) This suggests that while Connie’s relationship with Eddie has been fun and innocent what’s about to happened with Arnold fried will be the exact opposite. On the flip side, the drive in is also a huge symbol for the innocent vs. evil binary in the story. In the story Connie describes that here and her friend