Arnold Friend: Inside the Mind of a Psychopath Joyce Carol Oates’ short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is based on the year-long reign of the 1960s serial killer, the “Pied Piper of Tuscon,” Charles Howard Schmid. Oates’ story tells the horrid tale of an egocentric fifteen-year-old, Connie, who is mentally manipulated and later killed by charismatic Arnold Friend. Oates was inspired to write the short story after reading an article about Schmid’s killings in Life magazine (Borsun). Charles Schmid and Arnold Friend share eerily similar characteristics, including a drive to alter their appearance and play mind games with their victims. Charles Howard Schmid, popularly known as “Smitty” was “a little pipsqueak of a guy, standing just about 5’3” tall” (Borsun). A “naturally handsome” man, he stuffed his cowboy boots with just about anything that would add inches – socks, rags, and crushed tin cans (Borsun). Smitty would often modify his appearance by dyeing his hair and caking on make-up and pale lipstick (Moser). His killed his first victim, a fifteen-year-old girl, in May of 1964. His then-girlfriend coaxed Alleen Rowe out of her home, where she had been left alone for the night. The girl …show more content…
Commonly, psychopaths are among those individuals who commit such daunting crimes. According to the American Psychiatric Association, the diagnostic criteria for psychopathology are deceitfulness, repetitive lying or using aliases, manipulation and irritability, and arrogant self-appraisal. Psychopaths also have a general disregard for the safety of others. Berit Brogaard, DMSci, author of “The Superhuman Mind,” adds: “The main traits of a psychopath [are] callousness, blunted emotions, impulsive inclinations and an inability to feel guilt or remorse.” These characteristics certainly pertain to Charles