Meet the Cast!

Connie

Fifteen-year-old Connie exhibits the confusing, often superficial behavior typical of a teenage girl facing the difficult transition from girlhood to womanhood. She is rebellious, vain, self-centered, and deceitful. She is caught between her roles as a daughter, friend, sister, and object of sexual desire, uncertain of which one represents the real her; "Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home." She is deeply romantic, as shown by her awareness of popular song lyrics, but she is interested more in the concept of having a boyfriend than the boyfriend himself. She sees the boys who exhibit interest in her primarily as conquests who "dissolved into a single face that was not even a face but an idea." All of these traits make her vulnerable to Arnold Friend's manipulation. At first she is flattered by his attentions, unable to realize that he is in fact a menacing force. Connie's superficiality leads her into a situation in which she becomes powerless over the forces to which she is naively attracted.

Arnold Friend

Arnold Friend, the story’s primary antagonist, is a strange and ambiguous character. Theorized to be a devil and a savior, a very real psychopath and a supernatural being, Arnold Friend’s identity is unclear. While Connie’s character is rooted in her emotions, relationships, and history, Arnold Friend simply appears, without a background. Throughout the story it becomes clear he is not who he pretends to be: he sports a wig, stuffs his boots, and paints his face. More disturbingly, he is a couple decades older than what he claims to be. Arnold Friend is skilled in manipulation, using Connie’s vanity and curiosity to lure her into a conversation where he can assert control over her. His intentions, usually interpreted as rape and murder by critics, are almost certainly malevolent.