These violent, explicit lines strongly suggest that
Arnold has entered the house and is raping Connie
—the “stabbing” and “no tenderness,” as well as her extreme distress, all suggest that this violent moment is a rape. … In these lines, a literal reading reveals that it is her breath that is stabbing her lungs.
Why does Connie submit to Arnold Friend?
Due to her
insecurity and low self-esteem
, Connie is just gullible enough to believe that it really is “all over for [her] here.” She is willing to go with Arnold Friend not because she actually wants to, but because she thinks he is right; Connie has nothing keeping her, not her friends, her family, or any of the …
Why did Connie draw Arnold friend?
Due to her
insecurity and low self-esteem
, Connie is just gullible enough to believe that it really is “all over for [her] here.” She is willing to go with Arnold Friend not because she actually wants to, but because she thinks he is right; Connie has nothing keeping her, not her friends, her family, or any of the …
Why can’t Connie resist Arnold?
Connie
is alone Without any morals
instilled in her by her parents, Connie is without any moral to draw from to withstand Arnold Friend. Thus, she is susceptible to the terrors of Friend who virtually overpowers her with the threat of physical domination as well as the psychological threat of harm to her family.
Where did Connie meet Arnold Friend?
Connie first sees Friend
outside a drive-in restaurant
, where he immediately tells her, “Gonna get you, baby.” Throughout the story it becomes clear that he is highly manipulative and that his appearance is deceptive.
Why does Connie finally go outside as Arnold demands?
Why does Connie finally go outside as Arnold demands?
Arnold instructs Connie to come outside and says she is better than her family because they would not sacrifice themselves for her
, as she is about to sacrifice herself for them.
What does Ellie Oscar mean?
Ellie Oscar
Taken together, the phrase sounds like “
dear friend.
“
What does Connie do at the end of the story?
Connie is compelled to leave with him and do what he demands of her. The story ends as
Connie leaves her front porch
; her eventual fate is left ambiguous.”
How does Connie change from the beginning of the story to the end?
The primary change can be seen by looking at the very start and very end of the story. At the start of the story, Connie knows she is pretty, and she experiences this as validation and power. After all, “she knew she was pretty and that was everything.” At the end of the story,
her beauty is vulnerability
.
What is the first thing Arnold Friend says to Connie?
It is there, while enjoying the company of a boy, that she first sees Arnold Friend, a stranger in a gold convertible covered with cryptic writing. He says “
Gonna get you, baby
” to her, and she turns away from him. A while later, her family goes to a Sunday barbeque, leaving Connie home alone.
Why does Connie wish her mother was dead and she dead herself?
Why does Connie wish her mother was dead and she dead herself? He didn’t bother talking much to them,
but around his bent head Connie’s mother kept picking at her until
Connie wished her mother was dead and she herself was dead and it was all over. Connie wishes for death to end her toxic family dynamic.
What does Connie represent in the story?
Connie, also, has been said to represent many things:
Eve, troubled youth, or spiritually unenlightened humanity
.
What do the numbers on Arnold friend’s car really represent?
When Connie asks him what the stuff painted on his car means, Arnold goes through the various sayings and eventually comes to the numbers 33,19, 17. … Harold Hurley posits that the numbers carry
a sexual connotations because when added together they equal 69
, a sexual position.
Is Arnold Friend older than Connie?
Despite his strange appearance,
Arnold
is initially somewhat appealing to Connie in a dangerous way. He is an older, highly sexualized man who offers to take her away from her life as an unhappy teenager. He is incredibly different from Connie’s family and the other boys she knows, which intrigues her.
Why is Connie alone in the house when Arnold Friend visits her?
Why was Connie alone in the house when Arnold Friend visited her?
She did not want to go to the barbecue with her family.
What does Arnold call Connie?
This sounds more like a science fiction or horror film than the everyday world. When Arnold calls her his “
blue-eyed girl
,” when her eyes are really brown, Connie’s transformation into something else (a ghost?
