Theme Of Rebellion In Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, Connie And Arnold Friend

In the short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, Connie and Arnold Friend are both something close to a rebel and a criminal. Both have made a conscious choice to veer from the societal standard and the expectations of those around them. In an alternate telling, this could have brought them closer together and they could have had a positive relationship, in finding a companion in someone who shares the labelling of being different. However, this is not the case due to the sensation of discomfort brought forth by Friend. Many theories of deviance at play in these two individuals. There are many factors that influence these two characters that need to be investigated.

There are a few notions of rebellion that make up the psyche of Connie. Connie is mainly a person of vanity, consistently concerned with how she looks and how others perceive her. This is a socially learned attitude that funnels into the psychological theory of deviance. …show more content…
Connie is a young girl bent on defying her mother’s expectation of how her daughter should act. She does this by running around with boys and making herself visually look and act older than her sixteen years. She attracts the eye of predator Arnold Friend. In a way, Arnold calls her bluff by inviting her out for a drive, which she usually is keen to do with other boys, but is weary of him because of his age and demeanor. Connie thought of herself as a true rebel among her tame friends but is forced to reevaluate this assumption when she warrants unwanted attention that isn’t able to easily shake off. Because she has no experience with defending herself, she easily crumbles under Arnold’s pressures. She overlooked the immense danger she was putting herself in by behaving too mature and ended up learning the hard way. Naturally her teenage need to have anarchist tendencies would eventually bring her to more criminal