In this short story "Where are you going, where have you been?" Carol Joyce presents Connie as a rebellious fifteen-year-old girl. Connie lives in an existential world; the environment she lives in is meaningless for her. Connie finds her escape in music and in daydreaming about all the boys she meets over summer. Connie's lack of maturity, prevents her from avoiding the event with Arnold. She has a split personality; thus, she always acts in two different ways. She has no relationship with her parents, and she conflicts with her mother constantly. Also, Connie seeks out the company of young men, and she likes to flirt around. It is this seductive behavior that drew Arnold's attention in the first place.

Connie is illustrated as having a split personality. "Everything about her had two sides it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home"(446). Connie is torn between growing out of her childhood and growing into being a woman. She still has a certain amount of child-like behavior but tries to be more adult. Therefore, she cares only about her outfit and young boys. Connie dresses differently and walks more like a lady when she is away from home. Additionally, she wares a makeup

At the end of the story, Connie surrenders to Arnold's commands. She does not think about the consequences of her action, she has only a feeling of danger but she does not analyze it. To protect herself Connie sees the situation as unreal, she separates her mind and soul from her body, and virtually watches herself from outside. Connie believes she will be saved by this separation. Her unbalance relationship with her parents, her split personality, and immaturity do not helped her to deal with Arnorld situation. She is not aware how the real world is. Her dream world does not include any violence, but in fact, she lives in a world that is full of danger and unexpected traps.

Above all, there is always a conflict between Connie and her mother. Connie's mother does not communicate with her daughter. She criticizes her regularly enough that sometimes " Connie wished her mother was dead and she herself was dead and it was all over"(445). Furthermore, Connie's mother systematically compares Connie with her sister "why don't you keep your room clean like your sister? How've you got your hair fixed-what the hell stinks? Hair spray? You don't see your sister using that junk"(445). She always reminds Connie what a model daughter her sister June is. However, Connie believes that her mother prefers her from her sister June because she is "prettier". Her mother influences Connie to value appearance over anything else "Her mother had b

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Approximate Word count = 970
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)