During our usual late-night phone call to each other, one of the topics that we talked about was the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates; which I recently read for my English class. As I told you about the short story, we discussed our ideas and inclinations about the character Arnold, and how we individually perceive him. Our discussion revealed we had conflicting views on Arnold 's character. You told me that you perceive Arnold Friend to be a supernatural entity, and not of the human world. However, I disagree and think that Arnold is a rather disturbing mortal. Therefore, to help you understand why Arnold is mortal, rather than supernatural, I will give you ways that Arnolds character exemplifies …show more content…
The first example of the possibility that Arnold is drunk is given when he exits his car: “He opened the door very carefully, as if he was afraid it might fall off” (Oates 630). Initially, you said this moment when Arnold gets of his car is an indication that he is not used to cars because as a supernatural being he does not use them, and therefore does not understand how the door of a car operates. However, consider that he wants to impress Connie and does not want to make a fool of himself; if he is simply a drunk human being, then carefully opening the car door may keep him from embarrassing himself by stumbling. Further on, once Arnold is out of the car, there is another moment when Arnold appears intoxicated which is indicated by Connie’s observation: “He was standing in a strange way, leaning back against the car as if he were balancing himself” (Oates 630). Why would he need to balance himself if he were a supernatural being? If he is supernatural, as you believe, he should be able to do anything that a human can and even more so. Another clue that can help point out his inebriation is when Arnold smiles towards Connie, and she notices that something is amiss with his smile: “She watched this smile come, awkward as if he were smiling from inside a mask” (Oates 634). You took Connie’s description to mean that he is literally wearing a mask to hide his grotesque and demonic …show more content…
While one may believe initially that Arnold represents a supernatural or demonic entity, everything within the short story can be rationally explained in the human realm. Honestly, I wish that I could have agreed with you that Arnold is supernatural; unfortunately, Arnold presents very human-like qualities. The idea that a human being can be as disturbing as Arnold is unbearable, but unfortunately there are human beings out in the world that possess the same traits as Arnold Friend. Hopefully, unlike Connie, we will avoid people like Arnold Friend and not give in to them, and not fall for the “vast sunlit reaches” (Oates 637). I would like to think that neither you nor I would give up our bodies or hearts to a drunk, vulgar, and threatening human being that we do not know. I hope this story also provides a life lesson that you and I never have to experience ourselves: do not trust a mortal
In Joyce Carol Oats “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been,” we are introduced to two main characters. The names of the two main characters are Connie and Arnold Friend. In Oates’s short story, Arnold Friend is an imposter that tries to convince young Connie to go on a ride with him and his friend Ellie. Connie refuses to go on the ride but Arnold’s use unnatural techniques to force Connie to leave her house and go with him. Arnold Friend’s awareness of Connie’s family and friends and his ability to persuade Connie reveals that he is more than just a creepy old man trying to kidnap a young girl.
Arnold Friend was there to take Connie away; away from her childhood and home, which never quite felt like home until her fantasy world deteriorated and reality set it. The next moment is pivotal, this is when Connie forgets her hedonism and becomes something of much more substance. Before Connie studies Arnold Friend’s abnormal personality and erratic behavior she is fascinated by him and even worries that she is ill prepared for this
Is the classical representation of a monster. That is, he is an amalgamation of features and attributes which resemble the protagonist and their faults. Connie wants to be mature, to which Arnold obliges from a sexual aspect and not a romantic one. Arnold is a man with a mashup of both young an old. His pattern in speaking seems to match that of the current generation of adolescents, and the persona he presents is that of teenage boy, even claiming to be eighteen.
Pliny the Elder’s famous quote says, “Home is where the heart is.” Mim Malone goes on a vigorious journey when she learns her mom has a bad illness. Throughout David Arnold’s book, Mosquitoland Mim finds new friends/acquaintances while she was going through her journey. Also she is conquering obstacles and challenges in order to find herself, the real Mim Malone.
As the wise philosopher Albert Camus once said: “The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding” ("Albert Camus."). In the captivating short story Where Are You Going, Where Are you Been? Joyce Carol Oates is trying to show the readers that beauty and vanity can be sometimes harmful. Bored and tired of being ordinary, and still being treated as a child, the main character engaged in a rebellion that think will make her look older, more like an adult. The author also shows the readers how Connie’s obsession with her beauty, her dreaminess and carelessness of the world made her more ignorant and lack awareness.
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.
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.
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
In the story, Connie looked at the phrase “man the flying saucers and she felt like “words meant something to her that she did not yet know” (p.) which if she was on drugs she might not be aware of the fact that what she is seeing is not real, but eventually when she is sober she will understand. The ambiguity of Arnold Friend leaves many unanswered questions for readers. Unless Joyce Carol Oates decides to reveal the real Arnold Friend, readers may never know if he was in fact the devil or just a figment of Connie’s
Another example of mind control is Connie goes against her will and walks outside towards Arnold. This mind-controlling power is another trait of Satan. These three factors all point to the fact that Arnold is indeed the
Instead of realizing the danger that she was in, Connie was focused on what Arnold Friend was wearing and how attractive he was. Connie’s obsession with finding her own sexuality overpowered her gut feeling of danger. In an analysis of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, Barbara Wiedemann discusses how the antagonist Arnold Friend is based upon serial killer Charles Schmid, who murdered several young girls during the 1960s. In the analysis, Wiedemann
A good monster is never human or inhuman. Monsters serve as cautionary tales about the consequences of reckless abandon, and far more often than appearing as metaphysical beings, their true form is an idea. When children check under their beds and inside of their closets for a pair of yellow eyes and a toothy grin, they do not dispel any physical entity. Instead, they dispel the unknown. Similarly, in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein grapples not with a physical entity, but his own personality flaws.
But he himself is almost a reflection of her sharing such similar traits only he comes out as the winner which is the ironic part. A big clue to Arnold representing what Connie doesn’t like is when he says “None of them would have done any of this for you” praying on her feeling of being unappreciated. Arnold is not only a demon in a physical from but also Connie’s eternal demon as
Where the Wild Things are by Maurice Sendak is an interesting children’s picture book. The main character is a little boy named Max, who has a wild imagination. He uses all five senses as well as thought and his actions to express his personality as well as how he reacts and interacts with his surroundings. Max’s id, ego and super-ego are greatly shown in this book through the way that the author has portrayed him. Not only is this book a children’s story, but it can also be perceived as a life lesson.
Frankenstein was brought into this world not knowing anything but after some time he knew enough to put together the conclusion that humans are flawed and corrupted. He even realized that he cannot even count on his own creator. He felt like he was supposed to be special, but the world condemned him. “I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel… (65)” Feeling that he was supposed to be Adam he thought about how Adam and he are different. “Like Adam, I was created apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect.