Joyce Carol Oates p. 311

Did you ever find yourself drawn to or attracted by a person, act, or idea you later came to recognize as all wrong? What explains the attraction of danger and even evil when they come in the guise of a charismatic charmer? What motivates these dangerous attractions?

ABCDEFGHI JKLMNOPQR STUVWXYZ Look for patterns in the text: letters in names, times things are repeated, the code on the car, and other references to numbers. How do these things factor into the story?

 Read aloud the first six paragraphs of this story, stopping to discuss this significant description of Connie’s clothes in the fifth paragraph: “She wore a pull-over jersey blouse that looked one way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home.”  What kind of story do the opening paragraphs lead us to expect?  What are your opinions of Connie as the opening lines characterize her?

 Explore your emotional responses to the development of Connie’s feelings about Arnold Friend.  What appeal does Arnold Friend have, if any— how could she have feelings for him?  How do you react to Connie as the story begins? Is she appealing? Sympathetic or unsympathetic?  How do you feel toward Connie when Arnold Friend confronts and threatens her?  Indicate where the story begins to feel suspenseful or ominous and respond to the conclusion as Connie “watch[es] herself push the door slowly open.”

Working in pairs, decide a notebook page into two columns. In one column, “Connie with her friends,” list details that show Connie as a young woman moving into adulthood and becoming her own person. In the second column, “Connie at home,” list those that reveal Connie as a girl still dependent on her parents and only dreaming about the realities of the world. Consider possible allegorical interpretations and elicit examples from these lists that support those views.

Oates has stated that this story came to her not only after reading part of a Life magazine story about the “Pied Piper of Tuscon,” but also after listening to Bob Dylan’s song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” for several weeks as the story took shape. Read and examine the lyrics to provide a starting point for a text-based analysis. Relate lines in the lyrics to specific developments in the story, citing page and paragraph references.

 What is it about Connie that makes Arnold Friend target her as he does? How has her culture shaped her to attract such a person? Elicit textual evidence of these cultural influences on Connie, and discuss whether or not cultural factors continue to make young women vulnerable to sexual predators.  Are teenage girls today and better equipped than Connie to deal with people like Friend?  How does he lure her out of her house? Is she acting heroically at this point, is she powerless, or does something else motivate her to open the door?  What evidence supports either point of view (both of which have been suggested by Oates and critics)? Since no sane person would really open that door, how does this consideration prompt allegorical readings of the story?

 How does Arnold Friend know so much about where Connie’s family is and about the woman down the street?  Friend’s identity as a fantasy figure like the “demon lover” of the Scottish ballad  Blend of fantasy and realism as the story moves toward its frightening conclusion  How might this fantastic element, especially in light of the title, be considered integral to allegorical interpretations?  Oates also drew from folk songs and legends of “Death and the Maiden” and contemplated, but ultimately rejected, that as the title of this story.

Compose a 3-4 page essay on the following topic: analyze the effect of the use of setting, plot, characterization, and symbolism to convey the allegory of the story.

Tone: Compose a well-organized essay (3-4 pages) analyzing the author’s use of the elements of fiction to convey her attitude toward the story’s main character or toward the shifting social landscape of the 1960’s.

Theme: Compose a well-organized essay (3-4 pages)  evaluating the author’s message regarding the existence of evil in a modern world.  evaluating the author’s position regarding the adolescent search for independence.  evaluating the author’s message regarding the human need for guidance and structure.

 Read the first 11 paragraphs of this story and write a timed essay in which you examine narrative techniques, such as detail, point of view, and symbolism, that Oates uses to characterize Connie and reveal her relationship with her mother.  Write an essay in which you examine possible allegorical interpretations of the story and its title while also exploring the story’s blend of realism, allegory, and fantasy.

You may be intrigued by the gruesome story of serial killer Charles Schmid, known as the “Pied Piper of Tuscon” ( However, Oates intentionally quit reading the Life magazine story “because I didn’t want to be distracted by too much detail.” Use Oates’ decision as the starting point for a discussion of whether this outside material enhances or distracts from the self-contained story.