In the short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been"ÃÂ Joyce Carol Oates shows a clear resemblance of a devil-figure in the Character Arnold Friend. Oates shows this resemblance in a number of ways such as the way he looks, his actions, his deceitfulness, and the way he talks to Connie, the other character. I will concentrate on these main key points to prove that Arnold Friend is not just a devil-figure, but literally the devil in disguise.
Oates describes Arnold as having "shaggy, shabby black hair that looked crazy as a wig"à(448) and dressed in "tight faded jeans stuffed into black, scuffed boots"æand a white pull-over shirt that was a little soiled"ÃÂ. (449) She characterized his nose as "long and hawklike"ÃÂ. (449) Oates uses the color black several times and black is a symbol of evil demonic things, which are traits of the devil.
English: Black-Hair
Joyce Carol Oates, 2006
Black Water (novella)She also says his hair resembles a wig more than once in the story. In our description of the devil we see the devil as having horns. The wig could be a cover-up or disguise for the horns of the devil. Plus we see the devil having a pointy nose and hawklike is an illustration of pointy. The long nose could also symbolize lying or dishonesty.