Comparing The Victimization Of Connie And Morton In Sunday In The Park

The characters Connie and Morton both experience victimization first-hand. Both of these characters are targets of abuse, harm, and injury. Morton is the victim not only because of the other father, but also because of his wife. Connie is the victim because of an older man that goes by the name of Arnold Friend. Now let’s take a look at how both Connie and Morton become the victim. First, let us take a look at the victimization of Morton in the short story, “Sunday in the Park”. The scene is simple enough, Morton’s son, Larry, is in the sandbox and there is another boy in the sandbox who starts to throw sand at Larry. At first Morton’s wife tells the other boy to stop, but he throws more sand at Larry and it gets in his hair and face. The

Morton’s wife glances at him, which is a signal that Morton should do something. Morton attempts to talk with the other man and get him to stop his son, but he doesn’t do anything and it quickly escalates. Both men get up and in each other’s face, culminating in Morton declaring that they are leaving the park. Morton is a victim in this circumstance because he is being forced by the other father to fight or to leave the park without his dignity. He displays his victimization by avoiding a fight and taking a moral punch to his pride and dignity. When Morton and his family are on their way home his wife yells at Larry to stop crying and says, “I’m ashamed of you!” (Kaufman 3). Now although she is yelling at Larry, she really feels ashamed of Morton

One evening she catches the attention of a man in a gold convertible that is covered in writing. While her parents were out at her aunt’s barbeque, two men pull up and the driver in the car is Arnold Friend, who had seen her at the drive in. Arnold gets out to talk with Connie and at first she likes him, but she soon becomes the victim of the story. Arnold wants her to come to the other side and look at the writing on the car, but she won’t, as she claims that she has other things to do. Arnold then wants her to join him and Ellie for a ride, but he won’t tell her where they’d be going, and he mentions Connie’s name even though she has no recollection of ever meeting him. “Connie asks ‘where?’ (237), and states ‘I never said my name’ (237). Once Arnold tells Connie that he is supposedly 18, she becomes really suspicious of this boy. Arnold continues to get closer and closer to the door where Connie is standing. Connie starts to get aggressive and issues threats such as “Get the hell out of here!”(240), and “I’m going to call the police.”(240). Eventually she reaches the phone, but she has become so overwhelmed that she can’t dial the police for help and goes out to the porch with Arnold. In the end succumbing to the pressure and joining Arnold Friend displayed her