In the story "Where are You Going, Where Have you Been," written by Joyce Carol Oates, we
encounter a young girl, Connie, on the verge of the confusing adolescent years. Torn between who she is
and who she wants to be, her conflicting desires leave her in a strange position. Connie desires to be the
"good little girl," yet desires to go a little crazy, be a little flirty , and catch the coveted attention of those
beings of the opposite sex cloud her judgement. Connie, like the typical adolescent coming of age, hunts
to find that happy medium between angle and wild child. It is these conflicting desires that, in the end, are
young Connie's downfall. However, looking at the facts in the story and comparing them to our own young
adolescent experiences, we are left wondering if whether or not this was truly a downfall to Connie, or if it
was something she actually wanted.
Connie leads the typical early teenage life; a life filled with young friends and shopping malls,
smothering parents and wondering thoughts of boys. Connie actually lives two lifes. For instance,
Connie's whole attitude about things changes when she leaves her parents and her home. Everthing
about Connie changes, from her clothes and hair to her walk and ever her laugh (426.) Connie wants to
appear sexy to the boys and is so consumed with looking good that she glances at every mirror she
passes. Connie enjoys being the eye candy of the high school boys alot more than she lets on outwardly.
This brings on Connie's major source of her problematic thinking which is that of every every teenage girl,
boys. To a teenage girl boys are so enthralling yet so repulsive. One moment we think we can't live
without them, the next we wish we only could. Despite the confusion of all of this, Connie always returns to
the former of the two ways of thinking, showing us that maybe, ju
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