Arnold Friend Character Analysis

The house which Connie lives in symbolizes a world of family gatherings and sweet traditions she will forever cherish. Her home cannot provide her with the protection from the appalling threats of Arnold Friend whom cannot intrude her home, but can only seduce Connie to come out of

This additional scene not included in Oates’s short story only helps to inform the reader early on of how Connie and her friends act which adds to the movie’s

Has one ever been drawn in by something that one thought was good but it turned out to be bad? The story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” has the same scenario. The story was published in 1966 by Joyce Carol Oates. She is known for writing about mass murders, rape, suicide, arson, or an autopsy. She likes to write about multiple facets of individual personality, and her characters often undergo dramatic upheavals and transformation.

She presented herself in public as a young woman, but she was only fifteen years old. She wore her shirts “one way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home”. Everything about her was different when she’s away from home. Connie thinks that what she was doing was okay, but in reality she was drawing bad attention to herself. It resulted in Arnold Friend noticing her and visiting her.

As many teens have been asked these same questions multiple times by their parents as well as Connie has, one could assume. She is fifteen with long blonde hair which seemed to draw everyone’s attention. Oates begins the story explaining how Connie was gawking at herself in the mirror, as just about any other ordinary fifteen-year-old girl would; and that’s just what Connie is portrayed to be, ordinary. She shows a mighty interest in boys, she knows that she is very beautiful. She’s superficial, very naïve, and self-centered.

At this moment Connie’s anxiety gives Arnold a new leverage to assist in luring her. Connie has reviled to Arnold that she is fearful. This allows his predatory skills to take control combine with the ability to control her emotions. In the mist of her emotions, his constant verbal advancements, and her slowly losing control, Connie grabs the phone. In this moment, Arnold Friend knows he has to make her feel as if she has lost.

Connie who’s usual self-absorbed and seemingly in control of situations when it comes to boys her own age finds herself struggling for control when Arnold arrives at her door. “Connie stared at him, another wave of dizziness and fear rising in her so that for a moment he wasn't even in focus but was just a blur standing there against his gold car, and she had the idea that he had driven up the driveway all right but had come from nowhere before that and belonged nowhere and that everything about him and even about the music that was so familiar to her was only half real” (Oates 6). Connie begins to realize she’s not ready for the responsibilities of adulthood after all. In fact when she starts to realize the sexual advances from Arnold, she begins to panic. ” she was so sick with fear that she could do nothing but listen to it—the telephone was clammy and very heavy and her fingers groped down to the dial but were too weak to touch it.

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

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

Connie is ready to take things beyond just the romantic level with boys, and this desire is transformed into the being that is Arnold Friend. Connie states in her description of Arnold that “she liked the way he was dressed… a belt that pulled in his waist and showed how lean he was, and a white pull-over shirt that was a little soiled and showed the hard small muscles of his arms and shoulders” (Oates n.p.). By Connie stating this, she reveals that she does find Arnold physically attractive, perhaps even on a sexual level. Arnold represents her interest in boys and he allows her to enter into the world of fantasy. When he breaks into the house, however, Connie’s own fantasies begin to betray her because this is what she pictures it to be like if she were forced into a sexual situation.

This interpretation of the story explains how Connie simply fell prey to the common theme of men acting as predators in society. Therefore, Connie had no say in her fate, so she just decided to go quietly with him. However, this theory completely disregards the psychological disorders that Connie has. Connie did not go quietly with Arnold because he was a dominating male. Instead, Connie left due to her numerous unconscious mental problems.

Connie’s first encounter with Friend was at a diner when he stated to Connie, “Gonna get you, baby”(pg.1142). Because Connie was use to this type of attention, she did not view it as strange that an older man was calling her in such away. However, if Connie had seen Friend as dangerous instead of just another man, her kidnapping might have been prevented. Later in the story when Friend showed up as Connie’s house, she walked outside and talked to him instead of questioning how he knew where she lived or calling the police. Oates described Connie's interaction with Friend by stating,“Connie liked the way he was dressed, which was the way all of them dressed: tight faded jeans stuffed into black, scuffed boots, a belt that pulled his waist in and showed how lean he was, and a white pullover shirt that was a little soiled and showed the hard muscles of his arms and shoulders”(pg.1145).

Arnold's pursuit of Connie is a chilling example of the ways in which men have historically used violence and intimidation to exert their control over women. Arnold's attempts to seduce and subjugate Connie represent a broader pattern of male violence and domination, which is still unfortunately all too common in contemporary society. Arnold Friend states “"I'll have my arms tight around you so you won't need to try to get away and I'll show you what love is like” This statement “I’ll show you what love is like” is perfectly succinct to the theme, all too often men desire women, not in a romantic connotation but in a sort of perverse, almost hateful

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.

Arnold continues to try to get Connie in the car when he puts on Bobby King, but Connie doesn’t go for the bait and she doesn't want to go with Arnold. When Arnold realizes his plan is failing he threatens Connie by saying, “ This is how it is honey: you come out and we’ll drive away, have a nice ride. But if you don’t come out we’re gonna wait till your people come home and then they’re all going to get it,” Connie then ended up going with Arnold because she didn't want her family to be hurt by him (Oates 8). Arnold used his language and threats to get into Connie's head and make her do what he