Connie's Narcissism In The Grapes Of Wrath By Arnold Friend

The story presents a rebellious teenager named Connie who is also preoccupied with her appearance. She was approached by Arnold Friend in her house but before this,

In this context, Connie can be seen as the ego, which must decipher right from wrong. Friend is shady and eventually we discover him to be dangerous –as our Ids can be. Friend overpowers Connie, just as our Ids can overpower our egos to do certain things, and impact our decisions. Oates illuminates this concept in her story when she illustrates: “Arnold Friend was saying from the door, "That's a good girl. Put the phone back."

(Wagner-Martin). Friend’s sickening manipulation of a naïve 15 year old, as well as taking advantage of how easy that was during that time, only further explains why Friend is more of a villainous antagonist than Pointer, who manipulated an older woman in 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.

Friend manipulates Connie to seem more believable and appear like he cares about his well being. Arnolds ultimate goal is to have Connie believe that her family does not appreciate her, “(this) is exactly what poor, unappreciated Connie wants to hear” (Rubin 1). Arnold is trying to be appealing to Connie by saying what she wants to hear. Like the devil, Arnold is trying to please her to get what he ultimately wants. Arnold is acting like what he is doing is best for her, but he is only truly benefitting himself.

One similarity between the film and short story is that Arnold Friend’s personality, looks, and intentions remain the same (Oates 327). If Friend’s character did not remain the same throughout both short story and film, the lesson that one should always have a plan in order prior to unexpected visits by strangers would have not been taught. The importance of Arnold Friend remaining the same helps raise awareness about rapists and how some may think. Joyce Chopra, the director of Smooth Talk, neatly portrayed Friend as a deceitful psychopath that was willing to do anything in order to share a car ride with

His behavior and words became erratic and unpredictable. Sometimes, he was very sweet to Connie, but at some moments, he also threatened to kill her family. Therefore, it gives the readers a feeling of anxiety similar to the main character and they can not help but wonder what his real intentions are. As the story climaxes, the tone grows increasingly helpless and desperate as Connie realizes it is too late for her to run away from the demon, Arnold. The ending of the story is especially effective in setting the tone.

The mysterious and unknown character of Arnold Friend, whom Connie, the protagonist the story, met when she explored to the ‘unknown’ of the drive-in restaurant from the ‘known’ of the

He acted as if he had eyes and ears everywhere, knew what they were doing and when, and would harm them should she disobey him. This allowed him to manipulate Connie enough that she, eventually, willingly left with Arnold Friend. In my eyes, this speaks volumes because if Connie did not care

Connie, a teenage girl, who thinks more of herself than the boy she went out with the evening before, and would rather be deceptive than live in reality. The illusive life Connie plays is made clear between her relationship with her mother, and the life she lives at home and away from home. “Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home:” (Oates 507). This dishonesty Connie plays with is a reflected back later in the story by the second main character of this story. Arnold FRIEND is introduced as a smooth very arrogant guy, yet the same illusory is illustrated between him and Connie once Arnold arrives at Connie’s house.

Having been previously surrounded by only teenagers in her social circle, Connie took Arnold’s age for granted the first time they met at the drive-in restaurant. As the omnipresent narrator relates, “she happened to glance at a face just a few feet from hers. It was a boy with shaggy black hair, in a convertible jalopy painted gold,” which thus confirms that she initially saw him as a “boy” (1). Once faced by this new acquaintance at her house, however, the protagonist’s fear is what ultimately leads her to infer his true age, “she could see then that he wasn't a kid, he was much older—thirty, maybe more. At this knowledge her heart began to pound faster.”

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

She says, “And his face was familiar somehow: the jaw and chin and cheeks slightly darkened because he hadn’t shaved for a day or two, and the nose long and hawk like, sniffing as if she were a treat he was going to gobble up and it was all a joke” (Oates 323). Oates compares Arnold Friend to a hawk, a bird of prey, who is feeding on Connie. This is another indication that Arnold Friend is like the devil himself, and Connie is his victim. He is taking away Connie’s childhood and her innocence because of the way he tries to get her to give into temptation. Arnold Friend knows that Connie wants to fall in love.

Connie is faced with multiple obstacles, some that will determine her fate forever. There are predators throughout this gothic story, that test Connie’s morals. Within this story the audience will be exposed to a variety of relationships. Oates depicts the characters of the story as vain, evil, and jealous. The symbolism of religion is extremely significant throughout

He knew her name even though she had only quickly glimpsed at him the night prior with no communication from her at all. He knows where her parents are, what they are doing, how long they will be, how they look he even knows who her best friends are. Essentially Arnold Friend is the very essence of nightmare to Connie he is everything she is afraid of. He pressures her in to a situation out of her control. He takes away her pride of rejecting people and forces her to choose her family being hurt of facing her demons and going with him.