Compare and/or contrast the use of the use of horror and/ or the supernatural in "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" and "The Rocking-Horse...

The use of horror in both of these stories seems to be
rather different. In "The Rocking-Horse Winner," the horror is based on the supernatural
nature of the rocking-horse and how the mother's lack of love leads the boy to
desperately try and gain more money for her. In "Where Are You Going, Where Have You
Been?" the horror is reflected through the complete domination of Arnold over Connie and
how he comes to command her in every sense.

In "The
Rocking-Horse Winner," the use of supernatural is used to create an atmosphere of
horror, as we see Paul driven to ever greater excesses to try and find out the winning
horse. The more he rides on his special rocking-horse, the more he is presented as being
possessed and the more he sacrifices of himself. Note how his final fateful horse ride
is described as his mother enters:

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Then suddenly she switched on the light, and saw
her son, in his green pajamas, madly surging on the rocking horse. The blaze of light
suddenly lit him up, as he urged the wooden
horse...

He cried out in a
"powerful, strange" voice and his eyes "blaze" before he falls of the horse,
unconscious. This element of the supernatural and the way in which riding the horse in
this tormented way somehow communicates the name of winning horses to him add a real
sense of horror as we see a boy sacrifice himself to try and gain his mother's love and
affection.

The horror in "Where Are You Going, Where Have
You Been?" does not have any reference in the supernatural. Rather, it is based around
the complete dominance of Arnold over Connie as he manipulates her and makes her yield
to him. The way that Connie is so unsure about her identity makes her ripe for the
picking from Arnold's perspective, and perfect for his violent intentions. Arnold's
words form an "incantation" that completely takes Connie in as she is hypnotised by his
words, threats and blandishments:

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The place where you came from ain't there
anymore, and where you had in mind to go is cancelled out. This place you are
now--inside your daddy's house--is nothing but a cardboard box I can knock down anytime.
You know that and you always did know it. You hear
me?

The true horror of this
excellent story lies in the way that Arnold is able to prey on the weakness and unsure
nature of Connie's character, resulting in Connie's complete yielding herself up to
Arnold and her incredibly uncertain future, as the story ends with her realisation that
she will see "so much land."