Character Analysis Of Connie In Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

Most adolescent girls these days want something. It could be wanting to be in with the latest trend, become the prettiest girl at school, go out and hang out with their friends until the brink of dawn, or to get all the boys’ attention. In Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, the female protagonist named Connie shares these everyday struggles but takes them to a new level. Connie takes pride in her greatest vanity, her physical appearance, and finds satisfaction knowing that she can make boys and even men take a double glance at her. At fifteen years old, she thinks she already knows what she wants and believes she has a sense of entitlement. However, her family does not believe so and because of that, her relationship

with her family is troublesome. Connie’s life takes a turn when an ambiguous boy named Arnold Friend comes honking on her driveway and invites her to go for a ride with him. Although Connie initially refuses Arnold’s invitation, she eventually decides to leave her home and family. Due to her arrogance, she considers her stable family life as oppressive and subconsciously views Arnold as her savior.
Connie is a very conceited girl who is only concerned about her physical appearance.

She is described as being self-centered because of her “quick, nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirror or checking other people's faces to make sure her own was all right" (312). Connie wants her life to be different from everyone else's in her family. She believes she is entitled to so much more because she is prettier. Her mother always complains about how often she gawks at herself. It does not help that Connie also spends a great deal of time grooming herself to the point where her mother would think that’s the only thing she’s good for. Connie compares herself to her older sister June and describes her as “plain and chunky and steady” (312). This is a reflection of Connie’s ego and how she feels superior to June, who cares about other things rather than her looks. Connie’s description of June as “plain and steady” exhibits how Connie thinks being normal and stable is a negative. Connie does not want to be an average person and thinks her life is monotonous due to her

family.
Although Connie lives in a stable household with her parents and older sister, she feels suffocated by her mother because she often interrupts her day dreaming.

She tries to stay out of her mother's way, but somehow her mother manages to keep "dragging her back to the daylight by finding things for her to do" (314), in other words, keep her grounded in reality. Connie and her mother do not get along very often because “the two of them kept up a pretense of exasperation, a sense that they were tugging and struggling over something of little value to either of them” (315). Connie believes her mother is always criticizing her because her mother is envious of her good looks and youth that she no longer has. Her mother would irritate her with her words to the point where she “wished her mother was dead and she herself was dead and it was all over” (312). However, considering Connie’s narcissism, it is possible that she does not realize that she is neglecting her duties of being a daughter and not doing her fair share of household chores. Her mother could be tired of always having to clean up after her and because she cannot literally force Connie to do her chores, she has to resort to constantly reminding Connie of her responsibilities. That is why her mother always compares Connie to June because June actually does productive things with her life. For example, June "saved money and helped clean the house and cooked" whereas "Connie couldn't do a thing, her mind was all filled

with trash daydreams" (312). Unfortunately, Connie does not seem to recognize this. Connie is unhappy with her current life and thinks the problem is her family that is holding her back. This all changes, however, when Arnold Friend becomes a presence in her life and presents her with an opportunity to escape her home.
Although Arnold is a stalker, Connie still sees him as her savior from her monotonous life. Out of the blue, Arnold shows up in her driveway in his bright gold, open jalopy and asks her to go for a ride with him. He tries to be as patient and charming as he can be with her as he compliments on how pretty she is and constantly reminds her that he is going to be her friend. Arnold also promises that they will “go out to a nice field, out in the country here where it smells so nice and it’s sunny” (325) and he will show her what love is like. Arnold says he is going to give her everything she has been wanting for so long. Being with him, Connie will no longer have to deal with her mother and be liberated from the household she feels trapped in.
Even though Connie is fully aware of Arnold’s true intentions by seeing through his masquerade, Connie still goes with him on her own free will despite the fact that all she had to do is make a phone call to alert someone that she is in danger. Connie never physically resists Arnold, but rather does everything he requests like opening the screen door. Furthermore, as she steps outdoors, she sees the "vast sunlit reaches of the land behind him," in contrast with the house she is leaving, which "looked small” (326). Arnold is her gateway to freedom, at least that is what she believes. He will be able to show her “so much land that Connie had never seen before” (326). This signifies that a Connie will be embarking on a new path and there will not be a chance for her to turn back and she accepts that.
In the end, Connie succeeds in proving to herself that she is mature and capable of making a conscious decision for herself by leaving her life behind and going away with this man. Her desire for freedom overpowers her fears of the unknown. Connie’s decision could be depicted as an act of rebellion towards her family.