question for "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

Explain the title. Why is it in the form of a question, and why are there two parts to the question? Who does "you" refer to?
To begin answering this question, I want to start with who the title refers to. In my opinion, it is referring to society’s young adults in general. To be more specific, young adults like Connie and Arnold Friend may easily have this question directed towards them. For the character of Connie, the question explains her rebellious young state of age. She lies to her parents about where she is and who she is with. For Arnold Friend, the question explains his inappropriate actions towards innocent teenage girls like Connie. Then, we can take this title and let it represent the majority of young people’s desires of rebellious actions, like lying to their parents about where they are or sneaking out. When you read the title, it’s like you can hear your own parent’s voice speaking it. It grabs the reader’s attention and instantly allows them to make some type of connection because they can easily identify with the title.
2. Who is Arnold Friend? Do you think he is appropriately named? What is the significance of his car? His clothing? His language?
Arnold Friend, in this story, is a representation of evil. He is a very sly and dangerous man. Many specific characteristics of Arnold, match with those of the devil. For example, Arnold’s foot is slightly disfigured, almost as if he is without a real foot; the devil was known to have hooves instead of feet. When I was researching this story, many people mentioned that if you remove the r’s in Arnold Friend, you see An old fiend. Through time, the devil has been known as the oldest fiend. During the scene between Connie and Arnold, it is described that he wears make up and perhaps a wig. From these descriptions, we can assume that Arnold Friend is a very fake and misleading character. His car is very belittling to women, with the comment about the dent in his car. The audience remains curious about what the three numbers mean. Whether they have sexual reference or they have meaning towards a bible verse.
3. What do you think of the various members of Connie's family? Why has Oates limited their roles in the story?
I believe the main reason that Oates limits Connie’s family members is to draw more focus to Connie. Even when the family members are brought into the scene, they lead all focus and attention to Connie. Her mother is always belittling Connie, but praises her other daughter, June. When we are introduced to June, we learn that Connie is the pretty one of the family. June is older and plain, while Connie is outgoing and beautiful. Her father’s character does not provide much of a character to us. Connie’s father works and comes up, we understand that there is not much of a relationship between Connie and either parent. This can explain a lot of her behavior from lack of parental guidance.
4. How does the setting function in the story? Could this be anywhere? Why did Oates choose the setting(s) that she did?
The setting is very realistic, which is what a story like this needs to have
effect on its audience; the audience relates easier to stories that have practical settings. I cannot really imagine any of the scenes taking place elsewhere. Arnold Friend was placed in perfect settings in the scenes of the story. We meet him at a random diner. Then, he randomly shows up at Connie’s house. This adds such a dramatic point in the story. Having Arnold at Connie’s is house is the best way to portray the stalker character that he is. It provides that chilling effect that you have when you read the scene between Connie and Arnold. All the setting of the story are very practical and realistic; therefore, it is easier for the audience to connect and really understand this story.