Weaved into Joyce Carol Oates' twisted tale "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" there is a figure of demonic proportions; a man whose mere presence transforms into a menacing fear, bringing with it a depth of anxiety and a disturbing sense of premature death. While her parents are away one Sunday afternoon, Connie is approached by a strange man named Arnold Friend who is determined to seduce her and take her away. Instead of using force, Arnold Friend insinuates himself into Connie's mind and subdues her vulnerable and emerging sexuality. Ultimately, Oates indicates that he leads her to death, both spiritual and physical, and that her love is empty, but she is powerless against him. Within this novella lies a battle of wits between a young girl and a demonic man that is the metaphorical illusion of a destiny: the destiny of isolation and death. The sense of terror is explored through the largely symbolic use of a third person, past tense. narration. The omniscient writing style reflects an irrevocable fate and the fact that Connie, the protagonist, faces her inevitable fate. This fate is the starting point from which Oates begins to unravel her insidious story of a young girl too naive to fully understand the dangers that lurk in this world. Connie comes across as immature and vain from the start. He has a habit of “giggling quickly and nervously” of craning his neck to look at himself in mirrors and checking the faces of others to see if his face is okay (Oates 584). She is illustrated as having a two-faced personality. She smiles and laughs "a cynical, drawling laugh" at home, but is high-pitched and nervous everywhere else, and speaks in a "high, breathless, amused voice" that makes people doubt her ever since...... middle of article ......4.1 (1987): 62. Academic research completed. Web.November 3, 2013.Kennedy, XJ and Dana Gioia. "Daily use." An introduction to fiction. 11th ed. Boston: Longman, 2010. 584 – 95. Print.Korb, Rena. “An overview of “Where are you going, where have you been?”.” Short stories for students. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Network. November 3, 2013.Urbanski, Marie Mitchell Olesen. "Existential Allegory: Joyce Carol Oates 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'." Studies in Short Fiction (Spring 1978): 200-203. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. vol. 11. Detroit: GaleResearch, 1979. Literature Resource Center. Network. November 3, 2013.Wagner-Martin, Linda. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?: Overview." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Network. November 3. 2013.