Bright Future, Big Memories

       Morning: Every senior’s worst enemy. You’re overcome by the drowsiness of staying up late binge watching some show on Netflix instead of doing homework. You need a good pick-me-up song for this time of day, so you turn on “Livin’ On A Prayer” by Bon Jovi. Nothing helps you stay awake for (what feels like) another pointless day of school more than a classic rock song. Now you’re ready to take on all the excitement that comes with your last few weeks of high school.

       After leaving the comfort of your own bed, you must shovel your school supplies into your backpack to get ready for the joys of learning. Time is slowly crawling to the freedoms after senior graduation one school day at a time. For over a decade, your parents have dragged you to school hoping to inject some useful knowledge into your head before they send you off into the real world.

       Once you arrive at school, all the quizzes and tests you have that day suddenly come to your attention. You know that the last minute studying is being done in vain, but you continue anyway out of pure desperation. For some reason you can’t get Twenty One Pilots’ “Stressed Out” out of your head as you regret watching so many episodes of Jane the Virgin last night instead of studying for the government test you are about to fail.

       The excitement begins to pick up with the pep rally quickly approaching. The plain lunch you bought at the cafeteria or brought from home just doesn’t cut it in terms of providing the hype associated with your school’s pep rallies. You are able to sneak past Delgado during fifth period to get Chick-Fil-A. Ah, much better than anything you could have packed yourself. You jam out in the car with Ellie and Paige to various songs from the High School Musical movie.  You’ll miss times like this when you are up later studying in the library at the University of Florida.

       It’s time for the pep rally where all of your friends are screaming their heads off as “Crazy Frog” plays on the stereo. You think that the pep rallies are kind of lame but your friends make it fun for you any way. An awkward game of musical chairs is played and you actually participate in a game as well, this is when you make a half court shot.  The crowd is clapping and screaming for you, and your cheeks turn bright red. You only really like being the center of attention when you’re trying to make jokes in class.

       After exchanging goodbyes with everyone, you go back home to the same coziness of your bed you departed from earlier that morning. Crawling back in bed, you wonder why you ever decided to leave this wonderful safe haven that has been there for you. Vaguely imagining a future away from home and your beloved bed, you drift off into a deep sleep after all the excitement of the day. The song “I Lived” by One Republic is lingering in the back of your mind because as much as you want to leave home and gain unlimited freedom, you know that you’re going to miss the amazing life you have now with your friends at Lake Mary Prep.

Sir Walter or Sir Satire???

Jane Austen uses satirical elements in Persuasion, as well in her other novels, to ridicule the upper class in the era that she lived in. Both the plot and the characters in Persuasion are shaped around the satirical elements involving social status and marriage.

Like many other Jane Austen novels, Persuasion begins with not having a male heir to inherit the family land; in this case it is Kellynch Hall. Cousin William Elliot is supposed to inherit the land, and that somewhat obligates him to marry one of Sir Walter’s daughters to keep the land in the immediate family. Anne, a foil to her pretentious and self-absorbed father, disagrees with the general view of marriage and social rank in her society. She feels that marriage should be primarily decided upon “domestic values”, and also thinks that she should not have to hang out with people just because they are of high status.

The relationship between Anne and her father are quite opposite, which is probably why she wasn’t Sir Walter’s favorite! From the beginning of the novel, the readers know that Sir Walter thinks very highly of himself and places a lot of importance on social class. For example, he has mirrors all around his room because he thinks he is so good looking. Jane Austen directly characterizes (and makes fun of) Sir Walter and uses the comparison “Few women could think more of their personal appearance than he did nor could the valet of any new made lord be more delighted the place he held in society” (Austen 4.). Even though Sir Walter really isn’t in the best economic situation and doesn’t have the same looks as he did when he was younger, he still cannot get enough of himself! Similarly, his favorite book is one of the family ancestries; he can see the social ranks he and his family were born into. So basically when he is not looking at himself in his mirrors, he is reading about himself. These characteristics contrast with Anne’s because she has friendships with people like Mrs. Smith, who has no money and is ill, but still enjoys her company any way. Although her father enjoys concerts and dinner parties with people like the rich Darymples, Anne finds them extremely boring. Anne symbolizes the views of Jane Austen, and her father Sir Walter is both a contrasting and satirical character, representing the majority of people in her time.

Arnold F(r)iend

In literature, characters are considered grotesque when they induce the emotions of empathy and disapproval from the reader.  Empathy is drawn from the reader for Connie after we discover that her parents are not very active in her life; they aren’t asking important questions like “Where are you going?” and “Where have you been?” Winslow suggest that “Connie’s mothers suggests that she worries about her daughter’s habits and friend group, but Oates doesn’t show judgment of her but suggests there are tons of girls like her” (Winslow 3).  Not bothered by her mother’s worries, Connie goes out with her desperate group of girl friends nightly to try to attract guys. 

Connie was clearly craving the attention that her parents gave to her sister, and as a result she found herself trying to flirt with guys like Arnold Friend. Sympathy for Connie arises because we see her as a teenage girl doing what any other teenage girl does at that time. Even their pop culture reveals a lot about their morals, almost as if it represents religion, “However, her (Oate’s) use of popular music as a thematic referent is typical also of her frequent illumination of the illusions and grotesquely false values which may arise from excessive devotion to such aspects of popular culture.” The music that Connie listens to acts almost as a religion for her, as for most teenage girls at the time. Its lyrics portray their values, which seem to be attracting guys and having fun. 

After Connie meets Arnold Friend one evening, the readers are at the edge of their seats with suspicion of this perverted and sketchy character.  From his looks to his name, the reader is given an eerie feeling about this disguised man who had “a grinning face that reminded Connie of a pumpkin, except it wore sunglasses” (Oates 3). Arnold Friend’s characteristics seem to closely resemble those of Satan, and as we learn more about him we learn less about Connie. Connie loses her identity as she learns just how crazy and demonic Arnold Friend is. She spends so much time trying to find out WHO Arnold is, that she loses sight of who she is. Connie isn’t able to even dial the police to help her because Arnold had gotten in her head so much at that point. By the end of the story, all she has become is a victim, Arnold’s slave.

Works Cited

Oates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2002. Print.

Wegs, Joyce M. “’Don’t You Know Who I Am?’: The Grotesque in Oate’s ‘Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?’” Journal of Narrative Technique 5, 1995. Print.