m. She knows he is threatening her, her family, and friends but she is controlled by an unknown source that makes her go anyway. It is human instinct to protect yourself from danger,yet she seems to fall into some sort of mind trap that makes her do otherwise. The reader could argue that Connie went with Arnold Friend to protect her family, but the story never mentionsthat Connie is going to maintain her family’s safety. Weg’s suggests that he used black magic when he made an “X” in the air identifying his victim (358). Arnold Friend has a mysteriouscontrol over Connie that makes the reader believe that she is possessed by him. The story says,“She felt her pounding heart. Her hand seemed to enclose it. She thought for the first time in herlife that it was nothing that was hers, that belonged to her, but just a pounding, living thing insidethis body that wasn’t really hers either”(293). This proves that there is something taking over herbody making her go outside to confront this satanic figure. Demons are known for possessingpeople, and it seems as though Arnold Friend did bewitch Connie. There is no other logical reasonto put yourself in danger unless your mind has been altered by an outside force, in this case,Satan. In conclusion, Arnold Friend clearly represents Satan because of his nonhuman physicalcharacteristics, his psychic awareness of Connie, her family and friends, and his strong power overher even though she knows she is in danger. Arnold Friend’s artificial physical traits and hisnonhuman features lead the reader to believe that he is trying to hide his true identity. He knowsan abundant amount of information about Connie, and he tells Connie what her family is doing atthat same moment which suggests he has nonhuman psychic abilities. Also, he has an unexplaineddomination over Connie which suggests he has the power...
