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.