The Pied Piper of Tucson

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"
with an introduction by Elaine Showalter (5).


The Narrative

A sort of terror lives within Joyce Carol Oates' 1966 story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" in which readers meet fifteen-year-old Connie at the height of her navigation of adolescence. The story follows Connie as she spends time with her friends, meets boy, and gets into fights with her mother. As Connie's exploration of her own womanhood puts her on the radar of a dangerous man, the story takes a turn for the worst. This is the kind of thing that nightmares are made of, as readers realize Connie's situation is a mirror held to the reality for so many women who have been targeted and exploited for their naivety.

The Real Story

Oates drew inspiration for Connie's story from a 1966 article she first read in Life Magazine, titled The Pied Piper of Tucson and written by Don Moser. It reported the murders of Alleen Rowe, Gretchen Fritz, and Wendy Fritz by a man named Charles "Smitty" Schmid in Tucson, Arizona (1). In the first known murder of fifteen-year-old Alleen Rowe, he had been aided by friends Mary French and John Saunders. It is reported that the attack initially came about because Schmid had speculated whether or not he could kill someone and get away with it. Alleen was chosen simply because Mary French had been a mutual friend between her and Schmid (2). 

Gretchen and Wendy Fritz were murdered later by Schmid without the assistance of French or Saunders. Schmid had been involved with sixteen-year-old Gretchen for around a year, Schmid's friend Richard Bruns reporting that they had a rocky relationship and often fought, yet seemed madly in love with each other (1). On the night of the double murder, Gretchen had been taking her thirteen-year-old sister Wendy to see a movie when they met up with Schmid. Gretchen had been killed as their arguments came to a head, and Wendy simply because she had bore witness to his crime (1).

                      
                            Alleen Rowe, 15 years old (6).
Gretchen, 17 years old (left) and Wendy Fritz, 13 years old (right)
(6).
              

Comparisons

Significant comparisons can be made between Charles Schmid and the antagonist of Oates' story, Arnold Friend. Known for cruising the Speedway and picking up girls, this is similar to the location where Friend sees Connie for the first time. Descriptions of Arnold Friend contain peculiar details that bear similarities to the idiosyncrasies of Schmid. Oates describes Friend as, "a boy with shaggy black hair, in a convertible jalopy painted gold," then later points out, "[his] boots must have been stuffed with something so that he would seem taller" (3). In the original Life Magazine article, Moser describes Schmid's jet-black hair, gold convertible, and tendency to stuff his boots with tin cans to appear taller. In the video below you can see Oates' vision of Arnold Friend come to life in the 1985 film adaptation of the short story, Smooth Talk starring Treat Williams and Laura Dern (7).

To Conclude

In her introduction to Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?," Elaine Showalter describes Oates' motivation for writing the story. While society is often fascinated by the minds and motivations of serial killers, there is usually less of a focus on the victims of these crimes. Oates is able to do this, Showalter explains, "by taking the victim as her protagonist, and by taking her seriously. Her sense of what is tragic in Connie's 'trashy dreams,' and what is heroic in her fate, is typical of her compassion for the women often rendered silent and inarticulate in American society" (5). What Oates has done is shine a light on reality for women by showing the senselessness in what happens to girls like Connie. To girls like Alleen, Gretchen, and Wendy. The scariest part is not Arnold Friend or even Charles Schmid. It is that their stories are not unique.




Works Cited

1. Moser, Don. “The Pied Piper of Tucson.” Google Books, Time Inc., https://books.google.com/books?id=LUwEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false. Accessed 4 Apr. 2023.

2. Ramsland, Katherine. “Charles Schmid: The Pied Piper.” Alleen Rowe - Charles Schmid: The Pied Piper of Tucson - Crime Library, https://www.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/predators/schmid/rowe_3.html. Accessed 4 Apr. 2023.

3. Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer. Available from: VitalSource Bookshelf, (10th Edition). Macmillan Higher Education, 2018.

4. Ramsland, Katherine. “Charles Schmid: The Pied Piper.” Two Sisters - Charles Schmid: The Pied Piper of Tucson - Crime Library, https://www.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/predators/schmid/sisters_4.html. Accessed 4 Apr. 2023.

5. Showalter, Elaine. “Introduction: ‘Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?".” Celestial Timepiece, 25 Nov. 2016, https://celestialtimepiece.com/2016/10/09/introduction-where-are-you-going-where-have-you-been/. Accessed 12 Apr. 2023.


7. Chopra, Joyce, director. Smooth Talk. YouTube, Goldcrest Films, 1985, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7Pjjzb3Jqk. Accessed 10 Apr. 2023.

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