Second Day

The second day of class was more focused on literature rather than just taking attendance. ;) After hearing Professor Sexson recite the first few lines from Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", I was really intrigued and wanted to find out what happened next with Connie and the mysterious Arnold Friend. Later that day I read the story and was horrified. This story was very unsettling and gave me a strong reaction. What was even more upsetting about this story is that is was inspired by true events (I googled the "Pied Piper of Tuscon"). I thought it was interesting how this story fell in the section called "Monsters and Heroes" because Arnold Friend is definitely not the stereotypical "monster" but fits the description of a modern-day monster so perfectly; he has a dark, alluring presence, talks smoothly, and knows a haunting amount of information about Connie and her family. Listening to his calm voice say threatening things to this fifteen year-old girl is even more disturbing than if he were yelling them. The end of the story also left me with chills because it was so ambiguous; we don't know what will ever happen to Connie or her family. I think this author did exactly what good literature is intended to do: stir up a strong reaction from the reader.

Something else that caught my attention was how the story was for Bob Dylan. Flip a few pages from the story and the reader notices the lyrics to Dylans's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue". I thought that music played an important role in this story, and almost offered Connie a sort of escape from her family as well as the rest of the world. The lyrics "Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you/Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you/The vagabond who's rapping at your door/ Is standing in the clothes that you once wore/Strike another match, go start anew/And it's all over now, baby blue" left me picturing Arnold Friend moving closer and closer to Connie's screen door as he is coaxing her to take a ride in his gold jalopy. I really like seeing strong parallels between between music and literature (especially when it involves the wonderful Bob Dylan).