For centuries, society has placed an extraordinarily great emphasis on protecting young people from the many perceived mistakes of growing up. In many places around the country, effective sex education is resisted in favor of somewhat comical biblical suggestions about abstinence until marriage, even as most of the targeted teens see the world as an increasingly sexual place. There are so many points of view flowing in and out of the newly formed minds of adolescents that any effective argument for responsible attitudes or analysis of sexual behavior in adolescents should be expressed with some minimal degree of clarity. Unfortunately, this essential clarity of advice is missing in the short story “Where are You Going, Where Have You Been,” in which the misguided Joyce Carol Oates creates the character of Arthur Friend as a clichéd personification of the inner demon of uncontrollable budding sexuality. . Instead, the murky characterization of the antagonist presents nothing more than a confused and ambiguous vision of the meaning of history. According to popular belief, the character in question, Arthur Friend, is essentially the devil, or if not the devil himself, then a reasonable symbolic facsimile who serves to represent an equally sinister aspect of society. There is such a plethora of textual evidence to support this analysis that it is often ignored in discussions in favor of more “thought-provoking” conversations. However, A. Friend's demonic illustration is so present in the story that to skip it would be to unforgivably overlook an integral part of the story. In almost every detail of the description lies a sometimes insidious demonic allusion. With the physical aspect being the most present, it describes Arthur as a man behind… the center of the paper… a clear explanation of the character, the audience would be able to see that Arnold meant exactly what he meant. what he meant, and then we could move on to the next aspect of the story. This would have clarified the audience disconnect that currently remains present in its painfully dense story. His choice to veil his main antagonist with so much symbolism hindered the reader's ability to understand his story, thus damaging any intended effect the story was supposed to have. Works Cited Nmachiavelli, et al. “Question: What do the numbers 33, 19, 17 mean in the story? They're written along the side of Arnold Friend's car." Enotes.com. Enotes.com, Inc., ndWeb. December 13, 2010. .Oates, Joyce Carol. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Np: Epoca, 1966. Print page no.