A Closer Look At Arnold Friend - 1284 Words

Joyce Carol Oate’s a closer look at Arnold Friend In Joyce Carol Oate’s â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† we are introduced to Arnold Friend. Friend embodies a classical villain that readers have been exposed to throughout the history of time, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Much of Friends character is modeled after Charles Perrault, Little Red Riding Hood‘s own wolf. Certainly there are obvious differences in â€Å"Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?† and in the folk tale of Little Red Riding Hood. However; the theme and allegory are much the same in both stories. Arnold Friend echoes a big bad wolf, and there are valid lessons are be learned in this short story. To understand exactly who our fictional Friend was conceptualized after, we must take a closer look at the real man who inspired Oates’ character. Oates was inspired by Charles Schmid a twenty-three-year-old man who was charged with the murder of three teen girls. Schmid or â€Å"Smitty,† as he was often referred to was from Tucson, Arizona. (Schulz and Rockwood 530). Friend is described as being â€Å"a boy with shaggy black hair,† (Oates 506) he wore tight jeans, leather boots, and a tight shirts as well as having thick black eye lashes â€Å"as if painted with a black tarlike material.† (Oates 511) Friend also was described as being someone who â€Å"wobbled in his high boots† (Oates 513). In real life Schmid was a man who was described as being someone who wore makeup, colored his hair, and walked aroundShow MoreRelatedArnold as the Devil in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?513 Words   |  3 PagesWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates is about a fifteen year old girl named Connie who has a strange encounter with a man named Arnold Friend. I agree with Joyce M. Wegs interpretation of the story, that Arnold is symbolic of Satan. Connie first encounters Arnold in a parking lot while she is out with her friends, but she does not yet know who he is. She notices him standing near his car, a gold colored convertible jalopy, staring at her. When she walks by he says heRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates1008 Words   |  5 Pagesher friends. When Connie is at home, she acts childlike. However, when she goes out she tries to act like an adult by changing her clothes and the way she talks. She has an older sister who shadows her with her smarts, but Connie believes that she is more beautiful and worthy than June. June is twenty-two years old, very well behaved and is actually close with their mother. Connie not only struggles with her family, but also gets herself into a bind with a much older man named Arnold Friend. ThisRead MoreArnold Friend Analysis1096 Words   |  5 Pages12 16 November 2017 Arnold Friend our symbolic Satan There are many ideas about what or who the Devil is, even among believers. The number of differing sources and translations have led to plenty of inconsistencies, rumors, and assumptions surrounding the Prince of Darkness. Throughout the short story â€Å"Where Are You going, Where Have You Been?†, Arnold Friend is seen as a symbolic Satan. Joyce Carol Oates uses dialogue, characterization, and plot to show the readers how Arnold embodies features ofRead MoreSherman Alexie s The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian 986 Words   |  4 Pages. This story depicts a young Native American boy named Arnold spirit who grows up on the Spokane Indian Reservation face with poverty and alcoholism. After living on the reservation for 14 years, Arnold decides to leave the reservation in attending an all white school off the reservation named Reardan. 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Yet, I have all the stories about my hero and his good deeds. He is my hero and my savior. On the other hands, he did leave me with his son Victor Joseph . Victor is a good friend of mine but I was never a friend of his. The fact that my stories about his father bothers him so much, he doesn’t like my approach. There was a time when Victor and his two friends were playing basketball inRead More Themes Discussed in Joyce Oates Where Are You Going , Where Have You Been1551 Words   |  7 Pagesmother, her sister June, and Arnold Friend. The introduction of the main character Connie, â€Å"Her name was Connie,†signals that it is being told by a third person narrator. This narrative voice stays closely aligned to Connies point of view. The reader learns what her thoughts are, but the narrator provides no additional information or judgment of the situation. For instance, Connies harsh thoughts of her sister and mother are discussed: now (her mothers) looks were gone and that was whyRead MoreThe Pied Piper of Tucson1489 Words   |  6 Pagesdescriptions of Charles Schmid and his victims from Don Mosers article influenced Joyce Carol Oates short story. However, Joyce Chopras adaption is more realistic because of the real life details that were added into the film. Oates based her Arnold Friend character on the descriptions of Charles Schmids appearance, behavior, and actions from the article. Charles Schmid was a serial killer who killed three girls in Tucson, Arizona. He was 23 years old when he was arrested for murdering GretchenRead MoreBattle of Waterloo Research Paper1301 Words   |  6 PagesJessica Ferguson July 22nd,2012 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie 1. What does Arnold mean when he says, â€Å"I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats.†? What Arnold meant by the above quote was that he sees the worlds as broken dams and floods that represent the death, chaos and poverty around him. Everything around him is broken and damaged like his glasses. At the age of fourteen he has already beenRead More‚Äà ²Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€žÃƒ ´Where Are You Going Where Have You Been‚Äà ¹1341 Words   |  6 Pageslife. Her encounter with Arnold Friend reveals her as someone who lacks the mental ability to make meaningful decisions and accurate when necessary. Her desire for attention and frivolities facilitates in subjecting her as a victim of a wicked and complex world. She is obsessed with her beauty; her desire for boys and attention makes her pride herself as a â€Å"paragon of beauty†. She finds a great deal of pleasure in sexuality, listening to music and hanging out with friends (boys). Her sense of immaturity