A Perfect Revelation of Femaleness - Essay Example

It seems that though Connie is being influenced by the feminine desire to be dominated by a male, and, at moments, is infatuated by her abductor. It is her fear and the need to keep her family away from troubles that force her to give in to Arnold Friend, her abductor. For example, at first, she is equally forced by the desire to go out with Arnold Friend and the fear of being raped and killed, and hence unable to reach a decision. She neither refuses the invitation altogether nor easily shows her willingness or desire to surrender. Instead, she seems interested in prolonging the conversation only giving the lame reason “If my father comes and sees you” (46). This, in fact, is used by the writer to show how easy it is to con a human being by exploiting their basic instincts. However, when her family was dragged into the affair by Arnold Friend, she realizes the graveness of the situation and decides to call the police.

Connie is the epitome of an adolescent who finds the home atmosphere claustrophobic and her mother’s comments annoying. She finds solace in the philosophy that her mother gets angry only because she lost her look. However, there are things like Connie; going places with her friends, movies, shopping and even visiting a ‘fly-infested restaurant’ (36). And most importantly, she liked the fact that her friend’s father asked nothing about what they had done when he picked them back home. At home, she went on daydreaming about the boys she met but had to lie to her mother. Thus, altogether, the writer succeeds in narrating the feelings that dominate an adolescent female mind; the desire to enjoy freedom, the need to love or to be loved, and finally, the feeling of guilt.

Connie is presented as a girl who always looks for appreciation and care. Even when the car of Arnold Friend comes, she runs to the door in expectation, being worried about how she looks. When he asks her out, she does not reach a decision, nor does she want to stop the communication. Though she seems aware of the consequences, the need to be lured or the infatuation seems too strong to resist or too sweet to spit. Instead, throughout the conversation, contrasting emotions of the need for sexual gratification and the fear of exploitation seem to rule her mind. However, finding Arnold Friend’s tone growing more threatening than luring, she understands the realities. At this stage, she is totally under the grip of fear and finding it impossible to escape, she decides to surrender to fate.

To sum up, the writer wants to picture Connie as a girl who, like any other teenage girl, wants to be loved and dominated by maleness, but, is often, exploited by the male-dominated society taking advantage of their emotional instability.