Connie's internal struggle of Self- Discovery and family dysfunction in "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"
The short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" contains many conflicts that Connie, the main character and protagonist of the story, must overcome. While the conflicts in the story are both internal and external, Connie's most challenging conflict is finding who she is. The cause of the external conflict of the story is the effect of the internal conflict. Connie does not know who she is, therefore, is left to make a difficult decision that will affect both Connie and her family's life. Joyce Carol Oates displays how the internal struggle of self-discovery and family dysfunction leads to great dangers. Joyce Carol Oates demonstrates this through the plot and characters of the story.
To begin, Connie's internal conflict starts with members of her own family. The largest conflict she faces in her …show more content…
Connie searches for this throughout the story. This is really hard for Connie considering she is only fifteen years old and depends on the adults in her life to get her where she needs to go. "The father of Connie's best girl friend drove the girls three miles to town and left them at the shopping plaza…" (Oates 493). Since Connie and her friend are unable to drive it is very hard for Connie to be independent and make her own choices. All a teenager wants is their own independence and to do what they want, when they want, and, sadly, Connie is unable to do so because of her age. On the other hand, the way Connie acts around boys shows that she is not ready to be independent. Throughout the story she flirts with boys(Oates 494), and flaunts herself around them (Oates 493), which leads to the external conflict of the story. If Connie were independent, her behavior could get her into a lot of trouble and for these many reasons, she is not ready to be
The short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" contains many conflicts that Connie, the main character and protagonist of the story, must overcome. While the conflicts in the story are both internal and external, Connie's most challenging conflict is finding who she is. The cause of the external conflict of the story is the effect of the internal conflict. Connie does not know who she is, therefore, is left to make a difficult decision that will affect both Connie and her family's life. Joyce Carol Oates displays how the internal struggle of self-discovery and family dysfunction leads to great dangers. Joyce Carol Oates demonstrates this through the plot and characters of the story.
To begin, Connie's internal conflict starts with members of her own family. The largest conflict she faces in her …show more content…
Connie searches for this throughout the story. This is really hard for Connie considering she is only fifteen years old and depends on the adults in her life to get her where she needs to go. "The father of Connie's best girl friend drove the girls three miles to town and left them at the shopping plaza…" (Oates 493). Since Connie and her friend are unable to drive it is very hard for Connie to be independent and make her own choices. All a teenager wants is their own independence and to do what they want, when they want, and, sadly, Connie is unable to do so because of her age. On the other hand, the way Connie acts around boys shows that she is not ready to be independent. Throughout the story she flirts with boys(Oates 494), and flaunts herself around them (Oates 493), which leads to the external conflict of the story. If Connie were independent, her behavior could get her into a lot of trouble and for these many reasons, she is not ready to be