Professor Yasmin Gruss
Professor Yasmin Gruss
Brooklyn College Academy
Ashlee Thomas
Fall 2014
Oats and O’Connor’s Perspective of a Stranger In the short stories “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates and “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor, both authors use their main characters to point out an important message about strangers. In the text “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, Joyce Carol Oates character Arnold Friend uses Connie’s low self-esteem as an advantage to manipulate her into doing as he says. In “Good Country People” Flannery O’Connor character Manly Pointer uses his manly features to manipulate Joy into trusting him in order for him to take advantage of her. In both readings, each male character is portrayed as a stranger who preys on innocent girls because innocence makes them seem weak. In the excerpt “Were Are You Going, Where Have You Been” the character Connie is a young fifteen year old girl who struggles with self-esteem problems. She feels pretty when she goes out with her friends and gets hit on by a boy. While she may find it entertaining to get hit on and checked out by different boys, she does not realize that she is drawing dangerous attention to herself. Arnold Friend is a man who finds interest in Connie. On a morning when her family wasn’t home he appeared at her house. She thought it was weird because she never had contact with Arnold Friend only eye contact so she wondered how he knew where she lived. Arnold Friend is not the average man. He is very confident in himself and before he approaches a situation he does his background research. Not only did he find out where Connie lived, he also knew everyone in her family. He knew there name and he also knew where they were and how they treated Connie. They more he talked to Connie the more she realized that Arnold friend was not a boy, he was a middle age man. She states that “His smile faded. She could see then that he wasn’t a kid, he was much older – thirty, maybe
Brooklyn College Academy
Ashlee Thomas
Fall 2014
Oats and O’Connor’s Perspective of a Stranger In the short stories “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates and “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor, both authors use their main characters to point out an important message about strangers. In the text “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, Joyce Carol Oates character Arnold Friend uses Connie’s low self-esteem as an advantage to manipulate her into doing as he says. In “Good Country People” Flannery O’Connor character Manly Pointer uses his manly features to manipulate Joy into trusting him in order for him to take advantage of her. In both readings, each male character is portrayed as a stranger who preys on innocent girls because innocence makes them seem weak. In the excerpt “Were Are You Going, Where Have You Been” the character Connie is a young fifteen year old girl who struggles with self-esteem problems. She feels pretty when she goes out with her friends and gets hit on by a boy. While she may find it entertaining to get hit on and checked out by different boys, she does not realize that she is drawing dangerous attention to herself. Arnold Friend is a man who finds interest in Connie. On a morning when her family wasn’t home he appeared at her house. She thought it was weird because she never had contact with Arnold Friend only eye contact so she wondered how he knew where she lived. Arnold Friend is not the average man. He is very confident in himself and before he approaches a situation he does his background research. Not only did he find out where Connie lived, he also knew everyone in her family. He knew there name and he also knew where they were and how they treated Connie. They more he talked to Connie the more she realized that Arnold friend was not a boy, he was a middle age man. She states that “His smile faded. She could see then that he wasn’t a kid, he was much older – thirty, maybe