"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"
             The story, "Where Are You, Where Have You Been?", was a coming of age story that contained many characters with hidden meanings. Arnold Friend was one of these characters. He seems like a nice guy who just wants to go for a ride; however, his character soon turns out to be the devil or death himself. I liked that aspect of the story. At times, I was board and didn't want to finish the story, but the development of the antagonistic character intrigued me and allowed me to keep reading. The line I liked best about this story was when Arnold Friend said," Hey, you know that old woman down the road, the one with the chickens and stuff- you know her? She's dead!". I think this line is important to the story because it shows the true nature of Arnold's character. It clearly shows that he has a hand in death personally. Although, this story doesn't meet all of the criteria for a coming of age story, it is because we see Connie grow from a childish state of adult hood to making a decision that involves a great deal of maturity. Also, Connie gains a new awareness of the world; although, she doesn't get away from the social norms, her decision demonstrates her new found awareness.
             In our group discussion, we found that this was a coming of age story because we see Connie grow from a young unknowing teenager to an adult who sacrifices her own life for a family that she really doesn't care about. The allegory that we found in the story was Arnold Friend is displayed as the devil or death. This is evident by his use of the word hell, throughout the story. Also, the way he stagers around like he is drunk, could be because the devil walks with cloven hooves, and hooves in boots would make anyone walk weird. Lastly, the way Arnold talks about setting the house on fire because fire is associated with hell and death. Connie's all...