Character Analysis Of Connie In Joyce Carol Oates 'Where Are You Going'

Improved Essays
Have you ever done anything selfish, stupid, and change yourself? Well, Connie has done all of the above Connie changes herself around certain social groups. She’s selfish because she only cares about herself and her image towards people. And she hangs out with the older kids, who are a bad influence. In Joyce Carrol Oates’ Where are you going, Where have you been, Connie’s naivetea leads to her rape and brutal murder.
Connie changes herself around certain social groups. For example, her laugh; which is cynical and drawling at home but high pitched and nervous anywhere else. Her mouth is different because it’s pale and smirking most of the time, but bright and pink on the nights out. Her laugh is very prominent. Because Arnold said he liked her laugh.
…show more content…
“Sometimes Connie goes across the highway, ducking fast across the busy road, to a drive-in restaurant where the older kids hang out.” It’s dumb that Connie goes across a busy road just to go hang out with the older kids. She could die or be seriously injured. A guy named Eddie asked Connie if she would like something to eat. She eventually says yes and she left the safety of her friend and went with Eddie to his car. That was stupid; she could have been brutally murdered. And she should not leave her friend who could have protected her. At the drive-in she notices a guy in a golden car and he says “Gonna get you baby.” That man was Arnold Friend. He drives up to her house and says am I late? Connie toys with the idea of going on a drive with the stranger. Not only is it stupid but it’s dangerous but, she doesn't go with him. Where are you going, Where have you been by Joyce Carrol Oates ends with Connie being raped and killed. What leads to her death is her selfishness, her stupidity, and her actions. If you want to learn more about this wonderful short story you can Google it or ask a friend for some insight to the great piece of

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Arnold Parallelism

    • 1469 Words
    • 6 Pages

    (Oates) This causes Connie’s to go into the house grasping the phone while “she cried out, she cried for her mother” because she know that she will probably never see them again. (Oates) This highlights that while Connie has been shown to have made some questionable decisions in the story when put into the situation she really is just an innocent girl that’s about to be torn away from the only thing she’s ever known. Eddie and Arnold coming into Connie’s life also represent the contrast between innocent and evil. After spending an evening with Eddie, Connie is able to picture how “nice he had been, how sweet it always was, not the way someone like June would suppose but sweet, gentle, the way it was in movies and promised in songs.”…

    • 1469 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    First Connie's shift in personality is viewed in different perspectives between Connie at home and with her friends. According to the narrator “ Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home”(Oates 2). This points out the concept of duality emphasising that Connie walked and talked differently “childlike and bobbing, pale and smirking” as opposed to her house she would display sharp and timid behavior. The reason for Connie's shift in personality is the lack of male affection she never received from her absent father “their father was at work most of the time” leading her to seek love elsewhere. Although Connie's happiness was found by her friend visiting the drive in restaurant Connies state of mind was based on fantasy.…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Connie is young and pretty, and she is well aware of this. She is always “craning her neck to glance into mirrors” to check on her looks (1). Her relationship with her mother is a…

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    ADD Hook Sentence

    • 1956 Words
    • 8 Pages

    “Her mother who noticed everything and who hadn’t had much reason any longer to look at her own face, always scolded Connie about it.” (Oates). The words imply that Connie’s mother’s beauty faded and now is taking it out on Connie. This connects to one of the major themes of appearance and reality. The feel of need to be pretty and popular is still a major issue in society today.…

    • 1956 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    While Connie was naive upon meeting Arnold, overtime her perspective on Arnold alters. She realizes that she no longer needs validation from him. Oates explains Connie’s awareness: “‘Shut up! You’re crazy!’ Connie said.…

    • 1490 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Growing up can take many forms, whether that represents maturity and in some cases violence. Having a violent nature reveals one’s realization of how they are able to cope with reality. Joyce Carol Oates in her story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” and Bob Dylan’s song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” both interprets violence in a way to outgrow ourselves to keep up with the changing phases of reality. Both authors view violence in a metaphorical perspective that demonstrates the protagonists changing attitude.…

    • 1062 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Screen Door Symbolism

    • 1495 Words
    • 6 Pages

    If Connie keeps the screen door closed and stays inside the house she would still be the same girl, a fearful young innocent teenage girl who is afraid to face her own fate. Being mature also means sacrificing valuable things in life, Arnold Friend implies that he is going to threaten Connie’s family when he tells her that they do not need to get “involved”. Connie sacrifices herself for her family, which shows a kind of maturity. Even though she feels detached to her family, they mean a lot to her since they were the ones who always stood beside her and took care of her. The inside of the house is a safe place for Connie, but she leaves the safe area as a mature (sacrifice-taker) version of herself, a different person.…

    • 1495 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Arnold Friend

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Arnold Friend, an intimidating stranger, is responsible for the demise of Connie, an adventurous teenage girl. Arnold Friend and Connie never had a conversation or relationship with each other. Arnold Friend still carefully planned out the demise of Connie by threatening her, stalking her and planning out her kidnapping, without having any connection with her. Arnold Friend never had any relationship or communication with Connie. Arnold Friend had an attraction to Connie that motivated him to approach her in her home.…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Connie’s transformation is her deciding that she does not want to be a child, in a family who do not understand her, anymore. Instead she chooses to go with Arnold Friend so she can do what adults do without the judgements and rules that her family puts in place. It is necessary to evaluate all the aspects of the story, such as what is happening to Connie internally and what is happening in the world around her, to fully grasp what the moment of transition is for this character, what its significance is and what brought her to that moment. When the main…

    • 1181 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Connie appears to be a self-confident girl to the outside world, but after she meets Arnold Friend, she realizes how vulnerable and innocent she is. Indeed, her beauty couldn’t protect her from harm and gives her what she…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is a coming of age story. Connie lost her innocence that day when Arnold Friend came to her house. No matter what actually happened at the end of the story, when Connie was forced out of her house, her innocence was lost. Loss of innocence is another component of coming of age. When you lose your innocence you lose part of your childhood and when that happens, you come of…

    • 1675 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Throughout the stories Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? And A Good Man Is Hard to Find, The theme of fear is present throughout these stories. The ideology of fear are shown in these two stories and they connect to how fear is used to control people. Fear is seen today and was seen in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Both Joyce Carol Oates and Flannery O’Connor emphasized this throughout their stories.…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    "Where are you going, where have you been?” Is mixture of psychological thriller and coming of age story, written by Joyce Carol Oates, an American author born on June 16, 1938, in Lockport, New York. This short story tells us about Connie, a fifteen year old girl who lives with her mom, her dad and her sister June. Connie is described as a teenager who is constantly preoccupied about her appearance, trying to look desirable and mature. Her dangerous and naive search for maturity and independence will put her in an uncomfortable situation that gives her the opportunity to demonstrate what she has been wanting this whole time: that she is no longer a little girl, that she can act and react as an adult, and that she is independent from her parents, only to realize that she’s scared, nervous and screaming for her mother.…

    • 1098 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    We often focus more on the protagonist of stories, but what about the antagonist? Reading all three of the short stories Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates, A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor, and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, they all expand the idea of the “bad guy.” The antagonists are the ones that truly develop the situation of stories, because without them there wouldn't be a conflict, or a story in general... At least not an interesting one to say the most.…

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” is an eerie short story written by Joyce Carol Oates. The story, published in the fall 1966 edition of Epoch Magazine generated a big buzz (Ptalzgraf 221). Oates dedicated the story to Bob Dylan because she was inspired to write it after listening to his song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”(“Where”Shmoop). She was also inspired by the gruesome serial killer Charles Schmid. Joyce Carol Oates most famous short story is “Where Are you Going, Where Have You Been.”…

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays