Analysis Of The Poem ' Ah, The Sweet Smell Of Victory '

how Arnold Friend sees her and does not realize that she cannot see him or his motives. Arnold

I became extremely uncomfortable with Arnold Friend the moment he pulled into Connie’s driveway and said, “I ain’t late, am I?” (592). Friend was a complete stranger to Connie. She did not know him, nor did she know what he wanted. She acted calm and unbothered, not showing one ounce of interest in him. Furthermore, Arnold

Connie first encounters Arnold in a parking lot while she is out with her friends, but she does not yet know who he is. She notices him standing near his car, a gold colored convertible jalopy, staring at her. When she walks by he says he is going to "get" her, but Connie does not think anything of it and just turns away.

Arnold has shown himself as a very dangerous predator. “Aside from his dress and mannerisms, which eventually strike Connie as 'wrong', Friend is described as having a ‘nose long and hawk-like, sniffing as if she were a great treat he was going to gobble up.’ His ‘teeth were big and white’ just like the wolf in the cautionary tale of ‘Little Red Riding Hood.’ Charles Perrault's version of this fairy tale ends with the moral ‘Children, especially attractive, well bred young women, should never talk to strangers, for if they should do so, they may well provide dinner for a wolf.”(qtd. In Caldwell) Connie tries to call the police but she cannot and ends up trying to call for her mother but she is home alone. She was shaking and cannot dial the phone. One possibility is that this is a dream and she is seeing what will happen to her if she continues the path that she is on. In a dream you are not in control. You try to observe what is happening and see if you can understand what is going on. Arnold tells her what to do and she does it without any hesitation. She just obeys and does what he tells her to do. So she puts down the phone.

Arnold tries to take her for a ride in his car and at first, Connie believes that this is an act of harmless flirtation, so she plays along. Arnold was the type of guy she would normally go out with, she “liked the way he dressed” (409) and “She recognized...the singsong way he talked, slightly mocking, kidding, but serious and a little melancholy, and...the way he tapped one fist against the other in homage to the perpetual music behind him” (411), but something didn’t seem right with him. As the conversation progresses, Connie starts to realize that Arnold Friend knew all about her life even though they had never (apart from a brief meeting in a parking lot) had a conversation before this. He then demanded that she come with him, and threatened to come inside if she tried to call the

As if Arnold is trying to fit in with the teenagers. Connie grows weary of the boy and believes he is in his 30’s. This is another signal that Arnold is hiding the evil behind his fake persona. His hair looks to be a wig, and when he placed his sunglasses onto his head he was very careful not to disturb his costume. Arnold is literally a devil in disguise.

Arnold says that Roger “Was actually nice. He paid me some respect. He paid respect to Eugene and his bike” (Alexie 72). Roger’s respect to Arnold is one of the first signs that Arnold is being accepted into the Rearden society. Arnold learns how to gain respect and how to deal with the people of Rearden in this event. Arnold also says that after Penelope and he became a couple, “[he] suddenly became popular” (Alexie 110). Arnold is almost fully assimilated into Rearden at this point, becoming friends with much of the school. Arnold has learned to embrace his popularity a Rearden and, as a result, has become socially acceptable. These initiation events lead to changes in the way Arnold thinks, which has a direct effect on his future

He caught Connie’s eye as she was walking out with a boy. Arnold then smiled and mouth the words that he would have her. At this moment you can assume such an action is quite unusual and that we have not seen the last of him. He then is reintroduced when he shows up at her house. Arnold uses his appearance to help him look younger as if he was actually a teen and not a thirty something year old man. Arnold does this in order to not alert Connie as he attempt to socially engage with her. The author has done so in a manner that help the reader grasp the extent that this man is willing to go, therefore creating a suspicion of Arnold and what his true intention are. Connie describes him as a boy with shaggy black hair who wear tight jean, boots, belt and shirt that was worn to show his muscular physique. All of which was typical of the boys in that society. Connie also describes his car; a convertible jalopy painted gold with decals of a phrase that was use by kids but was outdated, a smiley face with glasses that resembled a pumpkin, and his name. Arnold really has his teenage image down almost impeccable. Dressing as a teen is not the only suspicious characteristic Arnold has, his outdated phrase

Once Arnold arrives at his new school he finds it hard to fit in, because he is a Native American. The other kids treated him differently and so did the teachers. Arnold feared of being beaten up by the jocks. He says, “I was afraid those monsters were going to kill me, and I don’t mean kill as in metaphor. I mean kill as in beat me to

finally introduces himself as Arnold Friend, when he shows up at Connie’s home, he is just

[Going to meet HEDDA.] Good morning, my dear Hedda! Good morning, and a hearty welcome!

“Amber?” Master Holostroug tilted his head as he was still standing in the doorway. Amber shook her head. She was lost in thought again.

“Aaron what are you doing out here? Come back inside, this rounds on me!” Silvia said, breaking up the mess that was in the process.

Lovino ripped off his shirt, ignoring the blush he felt appearing on his cheeks. “You heard me. I don’t have all day. I don’t know how long it’ll be until Grandpa gets back.”

The intercom buzzer rings and the Mrs. Parks voice starts talking. “Students, we are now going to release everyone from school early and we want all of you to go home immediately and wait for your