The tale Oates spins is one of mystery and intrigue. Is Arnold Friend a complete stranger with sinister intentions or is he simply a figment of an overactive imagination? From the moment he arrives something is very unnatural about him from his odd hair to his crooked leg. Is it possible that such a villain exists outside the mind of a pubescent youth, or is Connie asleep, and, if so, who is Arnold Friend? This question requires a look at the story, long before we are introduced to the strange antagonist. Connie is at an interesting part of her life. She is starting to gain the attention of men, a fact that she is well aware of: “she knew she was pretty and that was everything” (Oates 290). She is maturing and beginning to distance herself
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She spends her summer daydreaming about them but finds that “all the boys fell back and dissolved into a single face that was not even a face, but an idea…” (Oates 292). It is this very idea that Arnold embodies in her mind. Arnold has many strange traits, but no defining characteristics of his own. Everything about him, from the way he dresses, “which was the way all of them dressed” (Oates 295) to the “shaggy, shabby black hair that looked crazy, like a wig” (Oates 293), is stereotypical of the men that she knew and liked. He also has much more information about her life than should be possible, knowing the exact details of where her family had gone and who her neighbors were. Often, he looks off into the distance, attempting to reassure her that everything is fine, bringing up details about how much fun her family is having at the barbeque. The X he draws in the air seems to hang there, long after he had drawn it (Oates 296), and the crooked boot that belongs to an alarmingly twisted leg (Oates 298) all seems to suggest some sort of mythical or dreamlike quality. Considering all of these things there can be only one conclusion: Arnold cannot be real, but if Arnold is nothing more than a fabricated reality, why even write the
She spends her summer daydreaming about them but finds that “all the boys fell back and dissolved into a single face that was not even a face, but an idea…” (Oates 292). It is this very idea that Arnold embodies in her mind. Arnold has many strange traits, but no defining characteristics of his own. Everything about him, from the way he dresses, “which was the way all of them dressed” (Oates 295) to the “shaggy, shabby black hair that looked crazy, like a wig” (Oates 293), is stereotypical of the men that she knew and liked. He also has much more information about her life than should be possible, knowing the exact details of where her family had gone and who her neighbors were. Often, he looks off into the distance, attempting to reassure her that everything is fine, bringing up details about how much fun her family is having at the barbeque. The X he draws in the air seems to hang there, long after he had drawn it (Oates 296), and the crooked boot that belongs to an alarmingly twisted leg (Oates 298) all seems to suggest some sort of mythical or dreamlike quality. Considering all of these things there can be only one conclusion: Arnold cannot be real, but if Arnold is nothing more than a fabricated reality, why even write the