In the short story, “where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Arnold Friend tries to get Connie to do bad things to please him, which is revealed through arnold friend him Arnold Friend makes a promise to Connie at the drive-in-dinner In the short story it said “I'm going to get you baby”Oates. This foreshadows what is going to happen later on in the story it foreshadows that arnold will come for Connie and try to get her anyway possible .The
Connies scary encounter with Arnold Friend as a dream vision or
“A man has come for her, a rapist …” she says, then compares Connie’s fate to that of another story, by saying “Like Tarwater, Connie is about to be ‘raped by the devil himself. ’”(Oates). Not only does the author herself label Arnold as a “rapist” which would not be surprising, seeing that Arnold states “I’ll hold you so tight you won’t think you have to try to get away … because you’ll know you can’t. And I’ll come inside you where it’s all secret …” (Carol Oates 104) she also labels Arnold as “the devil”.
Later, Connie is stalked by this person who might be in his late thirties. Arnold shows up at Connie’s house, when she is alone, and forcefully tries to persuade her to go with him on a ride in his car. After having some discussions with Arnold for some time, Connie begins hearing threats and warnings from Arnold. Although she is behind her kitchen’s screen door, Connie begins to panic and is not
Supposing that this claim is coherent, it ignores Arnold’s true motive for asking Connie to come. He tells her, “‘I want you … Seen you that night [at the drive-in] and thought, that’s the one, yes sir. I never needed to look anymore’” (Oates n.p.). Through this statement, Oates not only explains Arnold’s claim
The first time Connie meets Arnold Friend is at the restaurant. Her beauty attracts him, and he can see the type of character she has. Arnold says, “Gonna get you, baby.” Connie doesn’t think much of it, but little does she know that this is the beginning to her nightmare, or freedom. The next morning on a Sunday Connie doesn’t bother to go to church which could have prevented her from being in the situation with sin.
Through the duration of their “conversation”, Arnold was able to make her completely give up her free will to him. Connie gives up everything she had ever owned to him, even her “pounding heart [is] nothing that [is Connie’s]” after Arnold takes control of her. (Oates 11). Willingly doing whatever someone says regardless of consequence is enough to classify someone as a victim on its own. But not only was Connie doing whatever Arnold said, she was even giving herself to him.
However, this is countered when Connie notes that “he was much older—thirty, maybe more” (315), a fact that frightens her. What Arnold is to Connie is a challenge of her want to be an adult, and a trail of her ability to deal with adult issue. Such as a man who singles her out sexual reason. Her wish to be an adult is something she seeks while passively avoiding it. Her avoidance is marked by day dreams of puppy love romance, like a typical teenager; yet, her attractive flaunt to be mature is presented as if she seeks to be an
The short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” was written by the author Joyce Carol Oates in 1966. Oates describes her idea for the story after briefly reading an article about the real-life murderer, Charles Schmid, who lured and murdered three teenage girls (Kirszner & Mandell 523). She uses this idea to create the character, Arnold Friend, and his victim, Connie. Connie is a typical teenage girl portrayed as naïve and self-centered. The short story appears realistic, given that the conflict in the story is based off of real events.
Oates’s biography explained her fiction writing as a mixture violence and sexual obsession. The writing style definitely fits the plot point of this story with both of her literary ingredients being present in not only Arnold Friend but in Connie as well. The Protagonist Connie is presented in a very self-centered way. She is obsessed with her looks and often fantasizes about all the boys she meets.
Reluctantly, her parents allow her to stay home alone. A few hours later, a familiar gold jalopy pulls up to her house. The driver announces to Connie that his name is Arnold Friend. His unusual physical appearance, his tone of voice, and what he may symbolize frighten the Connie.
Connie is being bullied by her mom every day. In the story, it states "Who are you? You think you're so pretty?"(pg. 1). Clearly, she felt a lot of insecurity from dealing with her mother. With Arnold, she probably felt a lot of attention something that she never had.
Teenage girl’s desires to be beautiful and desired, feminism, and adolescent sexuality are a few of the issues Connie, along with others, faced during this time period (and some can argue today). Connie was responsible for her actions (obviously) but it only partially to blame for what happened to her. If she had never left her friend to go sit in some random guy’s car, maybe Arnold Friend would’ve never seen her, or had taken a liking to her. I’m not stating that what happened with Arnold Friend was her fault, he’s the pedophile that should’ve known better and not threatened her, but it could have been prevented if she had never ditched her
Connie uses her attitude and appearance to attract boys. But she is not aware of the reality of the society in which she lives. Connie is living in a fantasy world, but when she gets trapped by Arnold Friend she is put into a scary reality. There
In Julia Alvarez’s Antojos, is about a young Dominican American women named Yolanda who is visiting her homeland and family in search of her antojos or cravings which leads her to not only cultural confrontation between American and Dominican ways but being able to reconnect with her native identity. Yolanda was born in the Dominican Republic and grew up in America. She travels back to her homeland for the first time in seven years with a possibility of staying permanently and “…live here on her own terms” (Alvarez 1304). Although her extended family welcomes her, her aunts and cousins openly criticizes her appearance and American ways, as she silently critiques theirs. Yolanda has difficultly speaking Spanish, stumbling over her words and
