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Arnold Friend Stereotypes

Decent Essays

Everyone is perceived differently, and the way that people are perceived is caused by a variety of factors. People judge people based off of their actions, their words and their background. In Joyce Carol Oates’s short story, “Where Are you Going, Where Have You Been?” the main character Connie is perceived to be very vulnerable to Arnold Friend, who ends up becoming her kidnapper. Arnold Friend sees Connie as a young, attractive fifteen year old girl who is an easy target. Connie is such an easy target for Arnold Friend because she is always looking for attention from older boys. Arnold takes notice of this and starts stalking Connie, trying to figure out how to get to her. Arnold stalks Connie without her even noticing because she …show more content…

Her mother is always giving her negative comments, never anything positive, and always finds something to make her feel bad about. Her sister is nine years older than Connie, twenty four years old, and still lives in the house, yet her mother always compares Connie to her sister, using her to make Connie feel bad about herself. Therefore, because of this abuse that Connie receives from her mother, Connie says that she “wished her mother was dead and she herself were dead and it was all over” (254). In addition to the abuse from her mother, her father is very quiet and is never really present in Connie’s life. This difficult situation at home makes Connie vulnerable because she is always seeking positive feedback from someone to make herself feel better, because she never receives positive feedback at home from her mother, and even when her father goes to pick up Connie from the mall, he doesn’t even bother to ask how it was, or what they had done. This is a big factor as to why Connie is so vulnerable in the story. Oates might use Connie’s situation at home to convey insights about people in the real world who also have difficult situations awaiting them at home. Oates tries to use Connie’s family situation to try and make a connection to others in the real world who might have parents who are divorced or any type of situation at home that is similar to Connie’s that might make life …show more content…

Arnold found about about this information because he has been stalking Connie for a while. When Arnold pulls into Connie’s driveway, Connie describes how “Her heart began to pound and her fingers snatched at her hair, checking it, and she whispered ‘Christ, christ,’ wondering how bad she looked” (257). This shows how vulnerable Connie already is to Arnold Friend because her first instinct is not to check who is this mysterious person who had pulled into my driveway, but her first instinct is to check how she looks. This makes connie vulnerable because it shows how Connie cares so much about what others perceive her as, that he doesn’t even care about her own safety. Then Arnold comes to the door and starts talking to Connie, saying how cute she is and how he is going to take her out for a ride. Connie doesn’t really know how to respond, but loving the attention that she is receiving from this older man, Connie just can’t seem to shut the door on the stranger and go back inside to her house. Arnold Friend keeps trying to talk her up and Connie just cannot decide whether or not she should ignore this boy or go with him inside his car, despite her previously saying how ignoring some boys makes her feel good. This point in the story right here really shows how vulnerable Connie is to Arnold Friend because even though

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