Why did Oates dedicate the short story to Bob Dylan?"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates's short story was published in a
collection entitled, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?: Stories of
Young America, a title which indicates Oates's ongoing interest in
adolescence, especially the psychological and social turmoil characteristic of this
period of teen angst.  Arnold Friend's manipulative stream of conversation mimics the
enjambed lines of Bob Dylan's lyrics, especially those from his song "It's All Over Now
Baby Blue" that Ms. Oates herself said inspired her,

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The vagabond who's rapping at your
door

is standing in the clothes that you wore
before

In other ways, such as
the tone and mood, Oates's short story also speaks to the song culture that was Dylan's,
which had much influence on teens.  For instance, Connie listens to the
music

that
made everything so good:  the music was always in the background like music at a church
service, it was something to depend
upon.

And, it is music that
lures Connie, just as many teens of Dylan's era were lured by his lyrics and music,
although Ms. Oates does not perceive Dylan's  as subversive or dangerous. Interestingly,
however, in order to deceive Connie, Arnold Friend mimics Dylan
in

the
singsong way he talked, slightly mocking, kidding, but serious and a little
melancholy.

In fact, at one
point, Oates writes of Arnold Friend, "He had the voice of the man on the radio now." 
And, his efforts to seduce Connie are all imitative of singers on the radio, suggesting
Oates's ideas about the powerful influence of music upon
adolescents.