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

In “Where Are You Going, Where Have you Been?”, Connie, is fifteen years old and is just like any other teenage girl. She daydreams, loves music, and likes to flirt. She is one of the main characters and has a personality that sets her apart from others in the story. In her mind she is the center of everything and she the only one that understands anything going on, “Connie would raise her eyebrows at these familiar complaints and look right through her mother, into a shadowy vision of herself as she was right at that moment: she knew she was pretty and that was everything.”(Oates 233) This sets her as someone that only cares about herself and that doesn’t really care what others say.

Connie is a different and jealous girl at home.. Connie’s mom would tell her that why would she be like her sister June, “..Connie had to hear her praised all the time by her mother and her mother’s sisters. June did this, June did that, she saved money and helped cleaned the house and cooked and Connie couldn’t do a thing …”(Oates 233) She does not act like she is jealous she just talks about how she hates her mom bragging about her sister. Besides this she also acts like a person in and out of her home, she is double-faced. “Everything about her had to sides to it, one for home and and one for anywhere that that was not home…” (Oates 234)

In the story while she alone at home a car shows up and it is the guy she meet the other night and we find out his real name is, Arnold Friend. He shows her his car to her then asks her to ride with him. She say no but, Arnold wont take no for answer. After he tries to get in the house and tells her exactly what her family is doing she panics. In this part of the story we see how she really is. When she is locked inside her house she starts to cry, “She cried out, she cried out for her mother…”(Oates 242) This tells us that she is still un-mature and still a