Summary Of Frank OConnor's First Confession

In 1966, Joyce Carol Oates published her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”. Oates was inspired to write this story after reading about a serial killer that was referred to as “The Pied Piper of Tucson”. Oates was disturbed by the number of teenagers that this killer was able to persuade to help him and keep his secrets (Oates 1). Oates uses irony, imagery, and symbolism to support her theme of evil in this short story.

He dreads revealing his sin because guilt and regret already overwhelm him. Proctor believes a public display of his wrongdoing will only intensify the extent of his sin, thereby multiplying his guilt.

One of the techniques O’Brien uses to convey the theme of guilt is that he addresses himself as “the boy” in third person. The third person point of view gives insight of the guilt of not just O’Brien, but also some of the other men there, such as Azar, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, and Norman Bowker. In the chapters prior, Bowker deals with the guilt of Kiowa’s death even after the war was over and deals with loneliness and isolation in “Speaking of Courage.” The first indications of Bowker’s feelings of guilt is shown in “In the Field,” when Azar says he feels “sort of guilty almost” over Kiowa’s death because he believes if he would have “kept my mouth shut none of it would’ve ever happened. Like it was my fault.” But then Bowker answers

Learning plays an essential role in life. We learn something new everyday. In Frank O'Connor's short story "The First Confession", Jackie, the main character, learns a lesson he'll always remember. After Jackie's first confession, he could now be confident that he was not such a sinner, and that Nora, his sister, was wrong. While people focused on Jackie's own wrong doings, they weren't focusing on their own wrong actions. Sometimes people's ignorance can bring them into a whole different reality. Through certain characters and different incidents, O'Connor stresses his theme that people's ignorance can blind them from their own sins.

During interrogation, police are allowed to make accusations, lie about or make up evidence, yell at the suspects or get in their faces. According to the law, police are allowed to use the tactic trickery or lying to receive a confession from the suspect. The assumption the police officers make is that no matter how many lies told, a person will not state they are guilty if they truly did not commit the crime. In the case shown in the video, Confession, the police told one of the men that he had failed a polygraph (lie detector) test, even though he had passed it. I believe this tactic is unjust. I admit, I tend to do this to people because I want to know if they are telling me the truth. However, when it comes to a person potentially being convicted and receiving the death penalty or time in jail, I believe the tactic that was used was not right. Joe Dick was interrogated for eight hours. He claimed that he was told every thirty seconds that he was lying and he was going to be sentenced to the death penalty. In Confession, Richard Leo made a valid point stating that people who are tortured will say anything to make the pain stop. Also, people who have the torture mechanism waved in their face will state that they are guilty to avoid being tortured. Joe had the death penalty waved in his face. He was given an ultimatum of the death penalty or tell the truth? In addition, the police officers repeated told Joe that he was lying and the lie detector proved this. What other

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been is a short story originally written by Joyce Carol Oates. It was first published in 1996 and immediately faced sufficient criticism and public discussions. This story involves both surreal myth and deep psychological realism which obviously distinguish this writing among other works of the author. In the center of the narration is a young girl named Connie. She is fifteen years old and is experiencing quite a turbulent period of her life. Her mother constantly compares her to her older sister and this factor only intensifies Connie's feeling that her mother does not understand her. In the story, the world of Connie is quite contradictory as well as her character itself. Nevertheless, it remains interesting to explore until the very last page of Oates' writing.

The story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates is very much different from the movie Smooth Talk directed by Joyce Chopra in many ways. The story and film were both made to relate to the real life serial killer Charles Howard Schmid Jr. and his crimes committed, while also reflecting a passage from the Old Testament that states “Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?” (Judges, 19:17) The three ways that the story and the film are very different are, how Connie’s vainness is portrayed, the importance of the mother daughter relationship, and finally the conclusion of the storyline.

Joyce Carol Oates finds inspiration for her short story based on Charles Howard Schmid Jr, a serial killer who made his debut in 1960’s. Charles Schmid was a charming, older, bad boy who targeted young girls in Tucson, Arizona. The similarity can be seen in Joyce’s short story when Arnold Friend targets stunning, 15-year-old Connie. Manipulation as well as other factors lead Connie to make an irrational decision, which jeopardizes her life. In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” aspects of belonging to neglectful family with an overachieving sister, an envious mother, and careless father particularly contribute in Connie’s kidnapping,

This is one story I've never told before. Not to anyone. . .To go into it, I've always thought, would only cause embarrassment for all of us, a sudden need to be elsewhere, which is the natural response to a confession. Even now I'll admit, the story makes me squirm. (O’Brien)

Generally when a person writes a story, they use past experiences and adventures in their life to help create a plot for their stories. Usually these events create a base for which the author writes upon thus contributing to the author’s exceptional way of thinking. For example, author Terry Teachout says that “O'Connor's religious beliefs were central to her art” (Teachout 56). O’Connor’s religion played a crucial role in her writings. Flannery O'Connor is regarded one of the major brief tale authors in United States literary performs. Among the thing that makes her work stand out to date is the boldness in her writing in style which she made no effort to hide her affiliation to the Roman Catholic faith and spared no wrath when

A tragedy story portrays a noble hero and heroine downfall through use of fate, the will of gods and hubris. The book “Private Memoirs and Confession of a Justified Sinner” is a tragedy because the book narrates a story about Wringham who had involved himself in crimes. At first, evil triumphs over good as Wringham had been filled with self-righteousness and hatred and these attitudes made him to believe that any crime was right according to his religion including murder. The story is full of crimes like murder, horror, religious fanaticism, fantasy and folklore (Hogg & Carrey 50). The publisher of the story was popular due to his magazine articles and poetry and he was also self-educated thus he published the book with the idea that the information in the book is strange. This idea was as a result of horrific theme matter and experimental style which he used in the book and he knew the general public would not appreciate his book. A French writer Gide in 1940s argued that the book was a masterpiece. The story has three categories to enable readers to understand different ways in which the book exist like folklore and local tradition. The first category summarizes all events which Wringham did to make readers understand why Wringham opted for confession. The second category narrates of the shocking confession process of Wringham who was obsessed with crime for a long period. The third section talks of finding of how Wringham confessed and revelation of his characters after

The human body has been coupled with various beliefs for all of history. It has been the centre and representation for questions of ethics, power and sexuality. Works like “Confession” by Linh Dinh have found ways to express these questions further. By focusing on questioning how the body operates in art, Dihn portrays and inquires a whole belief system as to how the body functions and is viewed in society.

In 1915, an unjust tragedy occurred. Leo M. Frank was lynched because he was thought to be guilty for the murder of 14-year-old Mary Phagan. However, was he actually guilty of the crime he was convicted for? More or less, Leo Frank was a victim of press influencing public opinion, the need for Hugh Dorsey (the prosecutor) to have a successful case, and racial prejudice of the time. Contrary to public opinion, Leo Frank was not guilty for murdering Mary Phagan.

innocence as the guilt within him is built up and then released when admitting to the deed.

Both John Updike’s and Joyce Carol Oates’ short stories were published in the 1960’s and focused on the transitional period of the main characters. While “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” had multiple settings, the main climax took part at Connie’s home, and in, “A&P”, the whole story took place at the supermarket. While “A&P” was told in first person, through Sammy’s eyes, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” was told by an outside view in third person. Although the point of views are different, they both helped the reader understand the text thoroughly. Without “A&P” being told through Sammy eyes, the reader wouldn’t to be able to understand his obsession with the girls as they walk through the store and why in the end he quit his job. The third