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Joyce Carol Oates Use Of Foreshadow

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Joyce Carol Oates uses physical characterization to foreshadow early on what truly is going to happen to Connie. Arnold is hiding things about his physical appearance. No matter what Connie says or does, Arnold keeps talking, and yet he reveals nothing about himself. He never physically asks Connie to join him, but his words have the same force and pull as the actions he only threatens to take."Soon as you touch the phone I don 't need to keep my promise and can come inside...anybody can break through a screen door and glass and wood and iron or anything else if he needs to, anybody at all.” No matter what Connie says or does, Arnold keeps talking, and yet he reveals nothing about himself. His words to Connie are mean, and forceful, there is not a single question Arnold asks Connie just demanding her what to do. Friend has 'shaggy black hair that looked crazy as a wig. …show more content…

The glass represents innocence, and the cracks, and breaks represent Arnold’s evil and temptation. Friend seemed to know everything about Connie. He knew where her family was, what they were doing, and even small details like what her sister was wearing. Friend gives off a eerie feeling, almost a foreshadowing of how much power Friend has over Connie. With her being naive Connie lived fantasies that expose her youthful innocence, much like that of Adam and Eve before their temptation by the serpent. Connie’s encounter with Arnold Friend is the representation of innocence being tempted by evil and sin. Arnold is a devil like character hiding in disguise. The author uses the concrete device of characterization to slowly foreshadow the true outcome of Connie, falling into

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