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Compare And Contrast The Misfit And Arnold Friend

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Myles Hypse February 3rd, 2017 English 1B 3:30-4:40pm Two Psychopaths Both of these stories give the reader a good look into the eyes of two psychopaths, who both refuse to take no for an answer. One of them, Arnold Friend although at first appearing friendly, is nothing more than a malicious predator, similar in kind to The Misfit, who greets his victims in a much more sinister way. The two characters, when stood side by side, almost seemed as they become one, yet are polar opposites. When one compares the character Arnold Friend to that of The Misfit, more similarities come forward than differences. When comparing the two killers the one characteristic that seems to stick out the most is that they both seem to be good at what they …show more content…

When one approaches the reading and looks actively, between the lines of each story, you can detect each of the author's small but still distinct undertones that connects religion in both stories. In "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been", the author notes that Arnold's shoes didn't fit, and it look as if he had stuffed rags into his boots to make himself appear taller than his actual height. Oates continues on, stating "One of his boots was at a strange angle, as if his foot wasn't in it. It pointed to the left, bent at the ankle.” This could be interpreted through a religious standpoint that Arnold’s shoes didn't fit because inside he had hooves instead of feet, referring Arnold to be the Devil in search of Connie, as it is also known that the Devil was said to have had a pair of hooves that he took extreme measures to hide from …show more content…

The Misfit and Arnold Friend both provide to be effective authoritative predators in persuading their victims to follow their directives which ultimately lead to their unfortunate deaths and abduction. Both characters in each of these short stories also exhibited insinuated religious implications that related them mainly to two major figures in religion, Jesus and the Devil. After analyzing The Misfit and Arnold's relationship with their respective main characters, many differences were also noted that separated them as individual manipulators that each performed their own tasks to get what they

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In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” there are many theories as to who Arnold Friend is and what his role. The story does not introduce Arnold till the middle and end of the story when Arnold Friend and Ellie Oscar, his friend, decides to pull up to Connie’s house trying to be gentle, but threatening at the same time. The tone sets the mood of the story, the way he talks is suave, so he doesn’t scare her as much but you could sense a little of annoyance in his voice when she refuses. He asks her to come ride with him, but then starts to threaten her family so she would get out the house and be with him.

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In both “The Devil and Daniel Webster and “The Devil and Tom Walker, they both came face to face with the devil. They had different strategies on how to confront the devil. In the two short stories, the resolution, the depictions of the devil, and the role of religion or the saving grace are the similar and different things. The main idea of both stories is the resolution of what had happened to Daniel and Tom.

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“The Devil and Tom Walker” written by Washington Irving, is a story that takes place in New England in the 1720’s. A major part of the story is satire as it is displayed all throughout the work. Satire is writing that ridicules or criticizes. Religion, marriage, and the white establishment are three different elements of society that are criticized throughout the story with satire. Religion and religious types are criticized through satire by Irving in the story.

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After reading John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, some similarities found in both books relate to the theme of friendship. These two books are very different in showing their types of characters and storylines with Of Mice and Men being a type of realistic fiction novel which takes place during the Great Depression, while Fahrenheit 451 is an all-around fictional novel which takes place in a dystopian society. The protagonists, and most of the characters as well, have and form friendships with many different characters throughout the books’ storylines. These friendships are formed from losses or from a character’s personality traits. These formations of friendships are what make these two books very similar to each other.

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Satanic References in Literature Depictions of the ultimate force of evil have existed for thousands of years. In Christianity, the name Satan or Lucifer has been given to define this evil, depicting him as a half human and half goat. Lucifer is fabled to exist since the beginning of time. Due to Lucifer being the representation of the most ancient evil, he is presented in many different forms in dark literature. This is shown in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”

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The strongest villain we have encountered in literature thus far is Arnold Friend. Premiering in Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where are you going, where have you been,” Arnold Friend is inspired by a true story. In 1960, there was a man that preyed on young girls in Arizona, later called the “Pied Piper of Tucson.” Although this man wore obviously fake makeup and clothes, he befriended the young teenage girls with his charm and sweet talk. Similar to the real man, Arnold Friend is a character that talks his way out of every question he is asked by everyone. Arnold Friend is a man of deception, hiding behind his disguise as a teenage boy, whose charisma allows him to get what he wants.

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In Joyce Carol Oates fictional short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” the majority of the story lies beneath the surface. More specifically than just the story, you realize that there is more to the character Arnold Friend than what may appear. The author has always remained silent and ambiguous about the real meaning of Arnold Friend’s true nature and she leaves room for the readers to make their own interpretation of him. Readers can analyze Arnold Friend and see him as the devil, he could just be the personification of popular music imagined by Connie in a dream, but Arnold Friend could also be the result of drug use.

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In the story, “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” by Flanner O’ Conner the story deals with a character who appears to be a dark caged animal .The Misfit is actually a fallen angel whom has been sent to eliminate the bad people of this world. The Misfit, is the antagonist in the story who is a convicted murderer aloose from the state penitently of Florida. The story describes the Misfit as being a ‘bad guy’ he kills an entire family. From a reader’s perspective, the misfit feels as though he does not belong in the world and battles a severe mental disorder.

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The short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is revolved around many distortions that the author O’Connor creates to build meaning within the story. The novel presents characters that are characterized through many different symbols that result in an uncanny feeling for the reader. O’Connor’s “place” is the distortion in the story that causes conflict, creating the uncanny feeling in the story. O’Connor’s “place” also represents a different variety of symbols, creating the necessary meaning of the psychological realism. O’Connor utilizes distortion to create meaning in the story within her characters who represent the conflicts within the Catholic Church and dramatizes it with a complicated sense of humor.

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shows the readers that that vanity and lack of self-awareness can make some vulnerable and easily fall for the evilness of the world. Because Connie became vulnerable, she was easily persuaded by Arnold, who was portrayed as the Devil figure and the darkness that exists, to leave her the known safety of her home and to embark on the road to the unclear future. Oates’s story teaches the readers to be cautious of their surroundings and of the people that are unfamiliar to them that live in the same society. That is because even if someone appears to look a certain way they might have a mask that hides the true darkness and evilness that is in their body and

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851 Words | 4 Pages

The Misfit was a purely evil character while the Grandmother had good intentions. Color symbolism was used throughout the story to give an insight of what is going to happen eventually. The animals also played a large portion of the symbolism attached to… The Misfit along with Hiram and Bobby Lee were all purely evil characters that killed everyone in his way.

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Arnold Friend’s Biblical Allusions In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Joyce Carol Oates tells a story of a young, innocent teenage girl, Connie who enjoys listening to music and begins exploring her sexuality and being with boys “the way it was in the movies and promised in songs” (Oates 198). In fact she catches the attention of Arnold Friend one night while at the mall meeting up with a boy. Not knowing he would appear in her life, Arnold strangely shows up at her house assuming they made plans to get together. His character is seen as the devil.

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1016 Words | 5 Pages

The Misfit 's mind is one of the most complicated of any villain in O 'Connor’s stories and in all literature. His mental state is most evident in "the scene between the Grandmother and the Misfit at the climax of the story" (Walls 3) This recent escapee 's psyche can be described as "tails short of the athlete’s morality, for he plays by no one 's rules except his own" (Fike). This mental state is typical of most criminals but the Misfit’s perception on religion is not so conventional. Usually, when a person commits a heinous act and if the person is spiritual they will say God told them to do it.

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1393 Words | 6 Pages

Moreover, when the Misfit and the two men shoot the whole family in the woods, it illustrates the sinister and cruel world that needs saving. The violent car crash that causes the family to encounter the Misfit in the first place adds to the violent display that O’Connor creates of the world. O’Connor uses the violence in the story to shock the readers into self-awareness (Larson 1). She uses this self-awareness to bring to light the religious theme of redemption and grace for the corrupted. O’Connor’s

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1601 Words | 7 Pages

The Misfit is seen as being a part of reality and only believing what he sees with physical evidence. He also stays true to his morals of what he believes is right and wrong, especially when it comes to showing the equality of no mercy among the family members. Both characters reveal their use of Jesus, the spiritual battle that inhibits them and their concepts of reality. All of this gives insight to how there are no good or bad characters at the finale of this story. The battle of morality between the two characters only shows the

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