How Different Stories Work Together

The different literary works and the actual non fiction stories of what really happened in the murders of the three girls in Tuscon, Arizona, all intertwine with each other. The non fiction stories, "Murder in the Desert," "Crime: Secrets in the Sand," and "Arizona: Growing Up in Tuscon," tell about the murders, and also explain the different details within the fictional works. They are fictional stories, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been," by Joyce Carol Oats and the movie "Small Talk," were the most connected to the story of what happened. Bob Dylan's song "It's All Over Now Baby Blue," basically explains the situation of being raped, which is what happened to the girls who were murdered. Also, the Utube video "Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?" was basically a very short story of what happened in the fictional stories, but the ending is very different which makes it not as creditable.

Arnold Friend, is the character of Charles Schmid, who is the real murder in the non fictional stories. The non fictional works, explain Charles in the same way as the fictional stories do. Charles is an older guy with black hair, who decides to murder a girl, to see if he can get away with it. The fictional and non fictional stories are the same by explaining that Charles had a friend with him, whose real name is John Saunders, and he is nineteen years old. But, unlike the fictional stories, the non fictional stories explain that Charles had a girlfriend named Mary French who was nineteen years old, and who was an accomplice to the murders. Another similarity that we can possibly make between the fictional stories, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been," by Joyce Carol Oats and the movie, "Small Talk," and the non fictional stories, is Connie, in real life her name was Gretchen Fritz and she was seventeen years old. The fictional works explain that Arnold Friend had his eye on Connie and that Connie did go with him and that he brought her back home, and she told her sister what happened. In the non fictional work, "Murder in the Dessert," it explains that Charles likes a girl named Gretchen Fritz and she as well had a sister. But, unlike the fictional works, she and Charles have a relationship, but then it ends. Also, he ends up murdering Gretchen and her sister Wendy one night, when they were supposed to go to a drive in. Therefore, this information to an extent might be the situation that is perhaps explained in the fictional stories. Although it is important to see how the fictional and non fictional works, are similar and different, it is also important to see how the author gives the readers a key point or code to explain the true story.

The key point in the fictional stories "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been," and "Smooth Talk," is that Arnold lets Connie know a secret code on the side of his car which is 33, 19, 17. In the fictional stories it does not explain what this code might mean. After reading the non fictional stories of what happened, it almost seems as if the author of the fictional stories was giving the readers a code. In the fictional stories, it describes Arnold as being a lot older than Connie. Therefore, thirty three might have stood for Arnold's age in the story, even though the real man Charles was twenty three years old. In the fictional stories Connie is fifteen years old. But, as stated earlier, Connie's story is somewhat related to the real victim named Gretchen Fritz. Gretchen was seventeen years old, which might have stood for the number seventeen on the side of the car. The last number nineteen stood for his friend Ellie's age, which in real life his name was John Saunders. Also, the number nineteen could have stood for his accomplice, who was not mentioned in the fictional stories, but her name was Mary French, and she was nineteen years old. Therefore, from reading the non fictional stories, the readers can interpret the code to be ages.

Through these examples, readers can see how the true story has stayed the same, or has changed in the fictional works. The description of Arnold Friend, or Charles Schmid, did not change within the fictional stories. They are also the same because they explain that Charles had a friend with him. But, unlike the fictional stories, Charles also had his girlfriend with him, Mary French; this however, shows how the story was changed. Another similarity, the readers might connect between the non fictional and the fictional stories is the story of Connie and how it is similar to the real story of Gretchen Fritz. Also, the code "33, 19, 17," in the fictional stories, even though Charles's real age is different, tells us the ages of the accomplices to the murders and the victims. In conclusion, these facts show how important it is, when reading a story that the reader must also look at the true story, if there is one, to see the similarities, changes and also codes or key points that the author may give.

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