"Where are you going?..."

Being a teenager is a difficult period in one’s life. A teenager is no longer a child but not yet an adult. This state of turmoil makes the teenager’s role in both family and society unclear. Joyce Carol Oates portrays a relatively typical teenage girl as the main character in “Where are you going? Where have you been?” At fifteen Connie exhibits traits common in teenage girls such as confusion, rebellion, and egocentrism. However, her confusion has a negative effect on her choices in life and ends up increasing her helplessness. Joyce Carol Oates establishes the character of Connie as a typical teenage girl through detailed descriptions of Connie’s physical appearance and personality, which aids the reader in understanding Connie’s vulnerability to Arnold Friend.

From the very first paragraph in this short story, the reader gets an immediate sense of Connie. She is described as having, “…a quick nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right” (336). Joyce Carol Oates describes Connie’s physical appearance, “Connie had long dark blond hair that drew anyone’s eye to it, and she wore part of it pulled up on her head and puffed out and the res

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Despite Connie’s rebellious tendencies, it is her confusion in life that is most significant. Connie rebels by going to town with her girlfriends and then sneaks off with a boy.

Another trait central to Connie’s character is rebellion. Her mother yells, “Stop gawking at yourself, who are you? You think you’re so pretty?” (336). Connie is frustrated by her mother who criticizes her while comparing her to her sister, June. When she was faced with the consequences of her actions, she did not know how to handle the situation.

It is Connie’s stereotypical teenage girl characteristics that have made her prey to Arnold Friend. When Arnold Friend drives up, “Her heart began to pound and her fingers snatched at her hair, checking it, and she whispered ‘Christ, Christ,’ wondering how bad she looked” (340). Perhaps she would not have attracted him with her flirtatious looks and vain prettiness had she not been so keen on rebelling against her mother. Without her rebellious streak, she might have gone with her parents to the barbeque; she might not have snuck off with Eddie that night and seen Arnold Friend. But the thrill of making a choice pushes the door right open, sealing her fate. She attracted him by being flirtatious and pretty and then once she got his attention, she didn’t know how to handle it. Connie as a teenage girl is important because although she did not intentionally attract a potential abuser, she was acting out her fantasies, believing she was ready to act as an adult. This is a terrifying prospect for Connie. Though on some level she knows it is her looks that attracted Arnold Friend to her.

Approximate Word count = 1075
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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