Sick Fantasies Arnold Friend example essay topic

In both stories "Where are you going, Where have you been" by Joyce Carol Oates and "The Chrysanthemums" by John Steinbeck the themes are based around coming out of a fantasy by the shock of the real world, deceitful strangers, and the dastardly things they do Connie is a shallow fifteen year old girl in the year 1970. She is very critical about physical appearance, and social status. Connie is obsessed with the image of being cool and doing the cool things that cool people do, like sneaking across a busy highway to go to a drive in restaurant where the older kids hung out. Connie is very fixated on the concept of cool, like her twenty four year old chunky sister who still lives at home, works at the high school as a secretary, saves money, and goes to family functions is not cool. Elisa is thirty-five and lives in a rural farm, her husband is a cattle herder and her main focus of attention her garden of chrysanthemums. Elisa has dreams of being rebellious, living out on the road and sleeping under the stars.

Both characters Connie and Elisa have their objects of obsession, or rather hobbies or phases of trend. Connie was the stereotypical teenage girl and was into going to the mall, boys, music, and looking in the mirror. Elisa hobby was her garden of chrysanthemums that she spends all her time tending to and literally pours her soul into her work. Both Connie and Elisa where taken advantage of by strangers who played into their fantasies for their own gain.

Connie was seduced by Arnold Friend who was a hunter who played sick delusional mind games to capture his prey. Arnold Friends costumed appearance was to appeal to her teenage mindset of the cool rebellious bad boy. He played in to this "character" by wearing shiny metallic sunglasses, listening to the same music station, wore the fashion of those times, he even wore makeup and bigger boots to disguise his height and footprints. "Connie liked the way he was dressed, which was the way all of them dressed: tight faded jeans stuffed into black, scuffed boots, a belt that pulled his waist in and showed how lean he was, and a white pull-over shirt that was a little soiled and showed the hard small muscles of his arms and shoulders".

Even if you dissect his name, Arnold is not generally a bullies name or the stereotypical name of someone who intends ill will and Friend, a friend is someone you feel comfortable with. Arnold Friend fits the criteria of a serial killer. Serial killers choose victims weaker than themselves. The murders reflect a need to sadistically dominate the victim.

Arnold Friend could of easily grabbed her and taken her and be done with it, but that would be too easy and wouldn't feed into his delusions. "She rushed forward and tried to lock the door. Her fingers were shaking. "But why lock it", Arnold Friend said gently, talking right into her face. "It's just a screen door. It's just nothing"."I mean, anybody can break through a screen door and glass and wood and iron or anything else if he needs to, anybody at all, and specially Arnold Friend.

If the place got lit up with a fire, honey, you'd come runnin' out into my arms, right into my arms an's afe at home-like you knew I was your lover and'd stopped fooling around. I don't mind a nice shy girl but I don't like no fooling around". Often their victims will fit a certain stereotype that has symbolic meaning for the killer; method of killing may reveal this meaning". "She's too fat. I don't like them fat. I like them the way you are, honey", he said, smiling sleepily at her" They stared at each other for a while through the screen door.

He said softly, "Now, what you " re going to do is this: you " re going to come out that door. You re going to sit up front with me and Ellie's going to sit in the back, the hell with Ellie, right? This isn't Ellie's date. You " re my date. I'm your lover, honey". Who knows what sick fantasies Arnold Friend had bubbling in his head and what reasons he chose her.

Serial killers objectify and humiliate their victims. Bundy deliberately kept the conversation brief -- if he got to know the victim and saw her as a real person, it would destroy the fantasy. This is why I think Arnold would start spurting out nonsense like talking about secret code numbers and other rants to re-anchor himself into his fantasy. Elisa is swindled by a roaming metal worker who plays on her interests. He first notices that she is a gardener and how she loves only one type of flower and how highly she speaks of her chrysanthemums. He uses this observation to score himself a free pot, and get his foot in the door in getting her to open up to him.

He then plays into her dreams to get her to more interested in him, while doing this occasionally reminding her of how hard he has it. Elisa now feeling this newly formed bond, searches for something for him to fix. Then later while driving with her husband she realizes that she followed right in to the metal mans con job. Both the characters fell into the deception of strangers that they opened themselves up to. The conflicts could have been avoided if they used discretion in what they shared with strangers and knowing when to keep to themselves and walk away.