Arnold Friend plays a song that lulls a young, beautiful woman into his sinister clutches. It is piped into the ears of 15-year-old Connie; Connie has been spotted by a man who does not intend to let her prance out of his sight. Once the impression has been made there is no turning back. This situation relates to a series of murders that happened in 1964 and were committed by a man with the name Charles Howard Schmid, Jr. Smitty, as he was called by his friends, relates to Arnold Friend in numerous ways. It has been said that Joyce Carol Oates’ story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is based off the events of Smitty’s murderous escapades.
Due to the publication date of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” it suggests the …show more content…
Arnold was in a parking lot, when he first met Connie the scene is very similar to the Tucson Speedway. Both Arnold and Smitty were right in the middle of the teen heartbeat; victims were easy to come by, some girls were getting to the age where it was time to be rebellious and what better way to make their parents mad then to run off with a man who drips of sex appeal. I think the title of the story can also be inferred from a parental standpoint “Having never been asked the crucial parental questions “Where are you going?” and “Where have you been?”” (Hurley …show more content…
Friend is not physically violent in the story but his vocabulary comes off as very passive aggressive; he keeps telling Connie she has done all these things for him and he seems very certain of himself, “…you had to wash your hair and you washed it for me. It’s nice and shining and all for me” (Oates 142). Both Arnold and Smitty have the innate ability to get into the minds of their victims; Friend penetrates the mind of Connie and says things to her that are wildly inappropriate such as “And I’ll come inside you where it’s all secret and you’ll give in to me and you’ll love me” (Gillis 69). Smitty was able to charm his way into this victim’s minds as well, when he committed his murders he convinced his “girlfriend” to lure Alleen Rowe out of her home and into his car, all with her having the knowledge that Smitty wanted to murder Rowe just to see if he could get away with
Due to the publication date of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” it suggests the …show more content…
Arnold was in a parking lot, when he first met Connie the scene is very similar to the Tucson Speedway. Both Arnold and Smitty were right in the middle of the teen heartbeat; victims were easy to come by, some girls were getting to the age where it was time to be rebellious and what better way to make their parents mad then to run off with a man who drips of sex appeal. I think the title of the story can also be inferred from a parental standpoint “Having never been asked the crucial parental questions “Where are you going?” and “Where have you been?”” (Hurley …show more content…
Friend is not physically violent in the story but his vocabulary comes off as very passive aggressive; he keeps telling Connie she has done all these things for him and he seems very certain of himself, “…you had to wash your hair and you washed it for me. It’s nice and shining and all for me” (Oates 142). Both Arnold and Smitty have the innate ability to get into the minds of their victims; Friend penetrates the mind of Connie and says things to her that are wildly inappropriate such as “And I’ll come inside you where it’s all secret and you’ll give in to me and you’ll love me” (Gillis 69). Smitty was able to charm his way into this victim’s minds as well, when he committed his murders he convinced his “girlfriend” to lure Alleen Rowe out of her home and into his car, all with her having the knowledge that Smitty wanted to murder Rowe just to see if he could get away with