where are you going where have you been
Connie's adventure with Arnold Friend In this short story "Where are you going, where have you been?" Carol Joyce presents Connie as a rebellious fifteen-year-old girl. Connie lives in an existential world; the environment she lives in is meaningless for her. Connie finds her escape in music and in daydreaming about all the boys she meets over summer. Connie's lack of maturity, prevents her from avoiding the event with Arnold. She has a split personality; thus, she always acts in two different ways. She has no relationship with her parents, and she conflicts with her mother constantly. Also, Connie seeks out the company of young men, and she likes to flirt around. It is this seductive behavior that drew Arnold's attention in the first place. Connie is illustrated as having a split personality. "Everything about her had two sides it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home"(446). Connie is torn between growing out of her childhood and growing into being a woman. She still has a certain amount of child-like behavior but tries to be more adult. Therefore, she cares only about her outfit and young boys. Connie dresses differently and walks more like a lady when she is away from home. Additionally, she wares a makeup
------------------------------------------------------------------------**Bibliography**Joyce, James. Furthermore, Connie's mother systematically compares Connie with her sister "why don't you keep your room clean like your sister? How've you got your hair fixed-what the hell stinks? Hair spray? You don't see your sister using that junk"(445). She struggles to decode his behavior but is hard for her to separate Arnold from the other young men she dates. In addition, she seeks out the company of young men and she likes to flirt around. Her mother influences Connie to value appearance over anything else "Her mother had been pretty once too, if you could believe those old snapshots in the album, but now her looks were gone and that was why she was always after Connie"(445). To protect herself Connie sees the situation as unreal, she separates her mind and soul from her body, and virtually watches herself from outside. Later on, she develops fear but still the situation seems unreal to her. Mainly, she is insecure because her parents offer her no direction; as a result, there is an emotional dryness in Connie's life. Above all, there is always a conflict between Connie and her mother. Her dream world does not include any violence, but in fact, she lives in a world that is full of danger and unexpected traps. At the beginning, she does not seem to realize the danger and she enjoys talking to him. Connie as a fifteen-year-old girl goes through a very difficult stage in her life. Her father is absent from home most of the time, and when he is home he does not communicate much with his family. "Where are you going, where have you been?" Literature and the Writing Process. Connie's mother does not communicate with her daughter.
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