Can The Path Of Evil Alter One s Life - 1085 Words

Can The Path of Evil Alter One’s Life The two short stories â€Å"A Goodman Is Hard to Find† by Flannery O’Connor and â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† by Joyce Carol Oates both have characters that have their lives altered by evil. The shortcut taken by the family in â€Å"A Goodman Is Hard to Find†, while Connie leaving with Arnold Friend in â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been† by Joyce Carol Oates. Although The Misfit, the Grandmother, Connie and Arnold Friend have different attitudes and take different approaches to evil all character’s end up affected by evil. Shown both stories is evil, which alters each character’s life. The symbolism in both stories represents their lack of faith and death. The Misfit is a murderer who just†¦show more content†¦The grandmother being a manipulative woman doesn’t value her life as it is, but longs for how it was in the past. â€Å"People are certainly not nice like they used to be† (29 8). The grandmother decides it would be better to go on a trip to Tennessee. After reading the newspaper and finding out The Misfit escaped from Federal Penn and is heading to Florida. She tries to persuade the family to change their plans, but they decide to go to Florida anyways. The grandmother desperately wants the children to see an old plantation that she visited as a child in Toombsboro. Unfortunately, while looking for the plantation, the family ends up in the path of The Misfit. In Joyce Carol Oates â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† Connie goes to the drive in restaurant with her friends, where she comes across Arnold Friend. As Connie walks by Arnold Friend he says â€Å"Gonna get you baby† (371). This quote is a warning to Connie that he will come get her and hurt her. Connie stays home Sunday while her father; mother and sister go to a barbecue that afternoon. While she’s left alone Arnold and his friend Ellie come over to try and conv ince Connie to go on a drive with them. Both of these stories have paths that eventually lead to these characters to face evil. In each story the main characters go down a path that brings evil to their lives. While trying to find the plantation in â€Å"A Goodman Is Hard to Find†, the