" An Incarnation of Evil" Joyce Carol Oates' short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" follows the story of a 15-year-old girl in the summer of the late 1960s named Connie; who she loves to act as if she is older than she actually is. And by doing so she attracts the wrong attention, in other words she succumbs to her own vanities and insecurities. It is clear that Arnold Friend's portrait represents an embodiment of evil or Satan himself, who tries to lure Connie into his world of sex, drugs and false promises. And the harsh reality is that Oates connects the story to real-life scenarios, in which young girls, or even adult women, are lured and taken away, because of false promises and fun. Arnold Friend represents an incarnation. The story describes Arnold Friend as “had shaggy, unkempt black hair that looked crazy like a wig.” sunglasses on the top of his head, carefully, as if he were actually wearing a wig." (Oates 12) And when he takes off his glasses he appears to have very pale, almost translucent skin around his eyes, “then he started smiling again. He saw this smile coming, awkward as if he was smiling from inside a mask. (Oates 13) And when Connie confronts Arnold, her heart starts racing and she feels like she has no control over her body, almost like she has no control of herself. Arnold Friend's physical traits and non-human characteristics lead the reader to believe that he is trying to hide his true identity. Also, reading this story reminded me of a verse in Second Corinthians 11-14, where the apostle Paul describes Satan as an “angel of light” who can captivate and give people a false sense of security and hope. And after reading this story, it is clear that Joyce Carol Oates used Arnold Friend to represent an “angel of light” who tries to bewitch Connie with false promises and take her away from her unhappy teenage life. And at first sight Connie develops an attraction to Arnold due to his bad boy looks and grooming. In the end, without Arnold doing her any real harm, his manipulation of Connie actually works and she ends up having a "ride". Additionally, I believe Joyce Carol Oates chose to name the protagonist Arnold Friend because if we removed the "R" from the name Arnold Friend, the story could drastically change from a nice, safe sounding name to "An Old Fiend." ” something that wanders the earth and collects souls, hence the double meaning “angel of light”. Furthermore, Oates represents Arnold as the devil through the way he speaks due to his ability to change his voice “He spoke in a simple, lilting voice, exactly as if he were reciting the words to a song. His smile assured her that everything was fine. (Oats 9). One interpretation that comes to mind is that Ellie, the one who is fiddling with the radio in the car, is checking Arnold's voice and trying to fix it, to make it sound modern.