Summary of Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" In Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are you Going, Where Have You Been", there is a clear interpretation of evil in Arnold Friend and how he as a demon tries to pull Connie into the dark world of sex and emotion. Oates seems to extract scenarios of real life and add them into her story. The character of Arnold Friend is more or less what really is out there. The harsh reality that Oates includes in her story is that there are demons like Arnold. Many people have interpreted Friend's character as the Pied Piper of Tucson who was a mass murderer who killed teens.(