Arnold Friend represents the lies and
realities of Connie's inflated vision of love. The dream boy package
Friend delivers is an exact replica of Connie's dream lover boy in
style, taste, and admiration but with the inconsistencies of reality.
This encounter shatters Connie's teen dreams and forces her into
adulthood.
The two sides of Connie: how she really
is in the comfort of her own home in contrast to how she wants to be
perceived outside is the main battle of the story. Connie tries to
dabble in reality but is left vulnerable by her constant need for
fantasy. Her thoughts on the boys she associates with, for instance,
is “dissolved into a single face that was not even a face but an
idea, a feeling, mixed up with the urgent insistent pounding of the
music and the humid night air of July”. Even Eddie who she rides
around with is never mentioned again by name, merely referred to as
another sweet boy she hears about in movies and songs. The vain image
Connie holds of herself is also mere fantasy inspired by the music of
Bobby King. The way she is always drumming along to the music,
fidgeting nervously, and constantly looking for approval is because
she is afraid to face reality. Connie's life is a film and she must
be the star. In consequence her idea of the dream boy is clouded and
effectively warped by the sick reality of Friend.
Arnold Friend drops in as another one
of Connie's fantasies. Nice car, cool clothes, tiny muscles, dreamy
radio voice, music bopping in conjunction with hers and an oh so cool
attitude. Friend keeps saying they've met before and while Connie has
no recollection of him she cannot deny that he is familiar.
Regardless of whether Friend is real or the devil himself, Connie
knows him because she created him. So what is wrong with Friend if he
is constructing the ideal? Friend has entered reality. The danger of
misguided love is showcased in his chilling “courting” of Connie
and reality of adulthood begin to seep in with his threats. The
safety net breaks down as Friend sums it up: “The place where you
came from ain't there anymore, and where you had in mind to go is
canceled out”. The daydreams her mother lambasted her for are no
longer there. Suddenly everything becomes confusing. The kitchen
begins to look unfamiliar. For the first time, Connie feels as though
her heart “was nothing that was hers” and realizes the fantasies
she built her life around had abandoned her.
The world Connie had created for
herself never existed because of the restraints of reality.
Inevitably it broke down, aided by the unsavory intentions of Arnold
Friend. Presenting himself as the idea of her dream lover, he twisted
his way into her life, and deflated the fantasy.
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