Where Are You Going Arnold Friend Quotes
Elia Bergquist Juan Espinoza EN102 23 February 2023 Where are You Going, What are Your Intentions? In the short story, “Where Have You Been, Where Are You Going?” Carol Joyce Oates creates a thriller of a story that leaves the reader with an unsettling feeling. The story revolves around the two main characters, Arnold Friend and Connie. While Arnold Friends’ true identity as an antagonist is never revealed in the story, there are several aspects of his character that can be explored to gain a better understanding of his role in the story such as his dialogue, actions, and intentions, as a threat. Arnold’s dialogue is the first part of his character development that we see. Immediately after pulling in the driveway Arnold makes a light hearted …show more content…
You use actions, and this is the next clue we look at in this story. Jumping back to the start of the story, Arnold comes to the house uninvited and uses charm as a way to lure her in. Connie describes him as having “shaggy, shabby black hair that looked crazy as a wig”(88). His physical appearance seems to be just as misleading as his dialogue. “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 small muscles of his arms and shoulders” (89). Connie mentions that he is dressed like all the rest of her aged boys which leads the reader to believe Arnold did this intentionally to deceive Connie. Body language plays an immense part on Connie, as Arnold performs his unsettling gazes at her. The first being with his sunglasses on. Connie thinks to herself how she cannot see where his eyes are actually looking. This adds to the feeling of danger that fills Connie’s head. While these are all MOSTLY harmless, Arnold gets infuriated towards the end of the story when Connie refuses to leave her house and grasps her arm in hopes that he can force her into his car. While grabbing her arm he says to her, “This place you’re at now, it isn’t your real home, you know that don’t you?” (95). This clearly shows Arnold violating Connie’s person as well as showing Arnolds eagerness to use physical methods to pursue the
Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Analysis Essay
545 Words | 3 Pagesby Joyce Carol Oates, Connie's youth and naivete are juxtaposed with Arnold Friend's threat, creating a conflict between innocence and experience. From the novel's beginning, Connie is presented as a self-absorbed, naive adolescent girl who wants to be recognized by males. However, as the narrative continues, it becomes abundantly evident that Arnold Friend is no average adolescent. Arnold Friend gives off the impression that he is a force for evil due to his enigmatic appearance in a gold convertible, frequent allusions to the devil, and overstated age (′′he was thirty-five or something). Oates creates a sharp contrast between Arnold Friend's experience and Connie's naivety with this
Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Arnold Friend Character Analysis
1344 Words | 6 PagesIn the story, Connie meets somebody who goes by the name Arnold Friend, who possesses many strange traits and contains an unnatural amount of knowledge about Connie. There has been much
Arnold Friend Character Analysis
1294 Words | 6 Pages“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”.
Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Arnold Friend Character Analysis
860 Words | 4 PagesAlthough at first glance Friend appears to be a young boy, upon further inspection one begins to realize that something is wrong. Several physical characteristics set Connie off and make her believe that Arnold Friend is no friend. “..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.” Connie see’s that Arnold cannot walk. He stumbles and has to hold onto things to get around, making him appear older than he is.
Arnold Friend In Joyce Carol Oates Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
1276 Words | 6 PagesNot only is he a stalker, but he also alters his appearance to make him perceived as younger. He is a deceptive character with manipulative tactics. One of the biggest tactics of Arnold Friend is his deception with clothing. We can infer that he uses his clothes to make himself appear younger.
Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Summary
1120 Words | 5 PagesConnie “cried out for her mother, she felt her breath start jerking back and forth in her lungs as if it was something Arnold Friend was stabbing her with again and again with no tenderness” (376). Arnold has a very firm grip over Connie’s state of mind in that moment. Connie is not able to think properly and is disheveled, possessed by Arnold’s domination. Connie is separated from Arnold by a screen door, and yet she still feels caged by him in her own home. The screen door is a thin barrier between peril and security, and between naïve fantasy and horrific reality.
Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Connie Character Analysis
1325 Words | 6 PagesIf Arnold had “found out all about [her]” like he says, he would know about her daydreams and need for an escape (Oates 5). This is the perfect way for Arnold to take her away because he knows she does want to leave. In conclusion, Connie wants to escape away from her neglecting family as she is always daydreaming and entering a different reality. Arnold provides for this escape by taking her away but she is torn with this decision as she still loves her family no matter what the circumstances. She does not want to make this decision but is forced to therefore making her
Arnold Friend In Where Are You Going Where Have You Been
1259 Words | 6 PagesArnold is a symbol for the dangers of the outside world: charismatic at first glance, but with dark intentions hidden underneath his appearance. When they first were talking, Connie thought to herself that “his smile assured her that everything was fine” (Oates 69). His initial appearance at her door intrigued her, and she found herself talking with him until she realized that he looked too old, and threatened to come inside if she called for help. Connie’s inexperience with the real world leads her to regard Arnold with little suspicion at first and he tells her what the world expects of women like her: “‘to be sweet and pretty and give in’” (Oates 75).
Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Arnold Friend Character
890 Words | 4 PagesArnold 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
Examples Of Allusions In Where Are You Going Where Have You Been
854 Words | 4 PagesHe mysteriously knows where Connie lives and invites himself to drive over to her house. Arnold assumes Connie’s friendship by convincing her that he knows everything and everybody, “I know your name and all about you” (Oates 201) when she never told him her name in the first place. He knew her friends, their names as well as what she did the night before. He also knew exactly where Connie’s family was, at a BBQ at Connie’s aunt Tille’s.
Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Arnold Friend Comparison
1190 Words | 5 PagesIt is quite possible that Connie has just invented Arnold Friend based on her love of music, at one point in the story it seems like Connie is falling asleep while listening to XYZ Sunday Jamboree and all of the sudden Arnold Friend shows up coincidently listening to the same thing. Instead of saying Arnold Friend knows Connie’s name and many things about her because he is the devil, you could say that Arnold Friend knows all of that because he is described as
Character Analysis Of Arnold Friend In 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'
1038 Words | 5 PagesHowever, Arnold is so much more than a stalker and smooth talker. Connie had withstood his defiling acts, but Arnold shattered that spirit. He saw through Connie as if she was see-through. Pet names and charming yet sinful words were practically sung into Connie's ears to seduce her out of her house. Connie let herself be swayed, not by will but by seduction and manipulation.
Analysis Of Where Are You Going Where Have You Been
1203 Words | 5 PagesThroughout the story, there are many instances: the illogical time and settings, the similarity between Arnold and Connie and the unrealistic events show that the meeting between Connie and Arnold Friend is a dream. The dream is also a preparation for Connie before she steps onto the stage of being an adult. Connie’s dream begins when she refuses to go to her aunt’s house for barbecue party. She stays home, and under the warmness of the sun, she begins her day dreaming about love and the boy she has met the night before. In the beginning, the author writes “Connie sat with her eyes closed in the sun…”
Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Arnold Friend Analysis
817 Words | 4 PagesThis clairvoyance also points to the fact that he may be a demonic creature. Connie never actually tells Arnold her name but he somehow already knows it. The last detail that points to Arnold being a demonic being is his mind control over Connie. For some reason she is unable to dial for the police.
Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Literary Analysis
694 Words | 3 PagesOates’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.
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