Assignment for Thursday 9/24

From reading the short story, "Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oats the main character seems to be Connie, but after reading the true story of what happen, it seems that the main character is actually Arnold Friend. Charles Schmid is the real Arnold Friend. The short story describes Arnold as having black shaggy hair and that he was older than the rest of the kids. the true story shows that Charles was an older guy, age twenty three and had black hair, which represents the relationship between him and Arnold. In the true story it states that Charles had decided one day, to see if he could get away with murder. Charles in fact, did rape and murder three girls, two of which were sisters. The story shows how Arnold/Charles would pick out a girl he liked to be his victim. It also shows that Arnold has an accomplice to the murders, which is his friend Ellie, in real life his name was John Saunders. Through Connie, the story creates an example of what might have happened and also incite to what the victim's thoughts were and what they might have went through. Therefore, the short story uses the character of Connie to show how Charles would lure the girls into going with him.

The character Arnold Friend is Charles Schmid in real life. Charles was a murderer in Tuscon, Arizona, who murdered three girls. Arnold Friend is an appropriate name for Charles. Charles was confident and he would act friendly to his victims that were perhaps insecure with themselves. He would appeal to them because he would make them feel good about themselves. Arnold was not wearing nice clothes; instead he wore scuffed boots, blue jeans, and a dirty shirt, which showed that he did not have a lot of money. His car is significant by showing who the real Arnold Friend was. It was an old jalopy, which also meant that he did not have a lot of money. The true Arnold, Charles was actually adopted, he did not work, and he would rely on his adopted mother to give him money. Another significance of the car is the numbers written on the fender, "33, 19, 17." These numbers translate to Judges thirty third book, chapter nineteen, verse seventeen. The verse translated is the title of the short story, "Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?" In one of the non fictional works about the true story, it states that the parents were to blame, because they did not pay attention to what their kids were doing and where they were going. Also, the title might show that Arnold does not want Connie to tell her parents where she was going and where she had been. The last significant thing about the car was the smashed fender that had "done by a crazy women driver," written on it which shows that Arnold does not have respect for women. Arnold's language is significant, because at first he talks friendly and nice to Connie. But, towards the end of the conversation before Connie leaves with him, his true voice shines through. He starts being aggressive in his words, which shows that Arnold is not as nice and friendly as he puts out to be; instead he is mean and controlling. This shows that Charles manipulated girls into thinking he was a nice guy, and convinced them into going with him, so he could rape and murder them.

Arnold takes Connie to a grassy field in his car. Arnold takes advantage of Connie and rapes her. He takes her back and tells her not to tell anyone where she has been or who she has been with. Connie does however tell her sister what happened to her, and then the story ends. But, I believe that Connie's story is very similar to the victim Gretchen Fritz. Gretchen Fritz had a relationship with Charles. But, she was very jealous of him, therefore their relationship ended. Gretchen also had a sister named Wendy, who was also murdered. And when they left to go to a drive in one night, they never came back. I believe that since Connie told her sister, June what happened to her that they became closer to one another. Therefore, a possible continuation to the story maybe that Connie and June started to hang out more often, and Arnold became worried that they would tell their parents what happened to Connie. So, Arnold decided to murder them one night while they were out together. Now that he had murdered them, his secret would be safe and no one would ever find out.

The setting of the story "Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oats, is in a small town. Connie's neighborhood is rural and the houses are far apart. Her house is old and she has a long dirt drive way. Also, part of the story is taken place in a small town, at a movie theater and a local drive in diner where all the older kids hang out. This setting functions in the story, because usually in small towns everybody knows everybody and they know everything about everyone. This shows that Arnold Friend may be an outsider, because no one knows who he is, but since everybody knows everybody, it was easy for him to get information about Connie. Also, the setting shows that people believe, small towns are safe and that the crime rate is low, but really things do happen, but the victims are too scared to tell anyone. For example, Connie did not tell her parents that she was raped. This crime could happen anywhere at anytime. Oats chose the setting of a small town, to express that Arnold Friend was not a familiar face. Also, since it was a small town, Connie did not want to tell her mother because, she knew that everyone would find out about her.

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