Vanessa Donnelly
Douglas Browning
Composition II
September 11th, 2012
Where Are You Going, Where have you been? Connie a fifteen year old girl who was all about her looks, what she was going to wear tomorrow and what her friends were doing was what she was always worried about. Although Connie had her friends, she had two sides to her, the “loud and silly” side with her friends and the “quiet and closed off” with her family. Connie was always being told by her mother “Why can’t you be more like you sister?” All Connie wanted to do was be with her friends, and worry about her looks. She was happier when people complimented her, especially the boys. When Connie met Arnold Friend, she couldn’t help but give off that “hard to get” vibe just because that was the type of girl she was. When Arnold came to her house, Connie really debated on getting in his car for a ride. The responsible, yet worried side she began to show as he talked to her with an attitude of “If you don’t get in my car or else...” Connie didn’t know what else to do but listen to him since she knew she couldn’t put her family in that type of danger, and hope everything will be okay in the end. Even though Connie is fifteen, she realizes that family starts to mean so much more when pushed to the extinct. When Connie isn’t with her friends and having with them, she is usually at home with her family. Connie is constantly being thrown down by her mother “Why can’t you be more like your sister?” “Why do you use make up?” Something Connie’s knew her mom would never understand. Connie used make up, hung out friends, dressed up nice almost every day because that was her thing and doing those things made her feel so much better and none of those thoughts mattered what her mother said to her. She really has no family-friends, noticing her father is only mentioned three times in the story, and how he sits backs and lets her mom just yell her at her, really shows how Connie doesn’t have a father figure and if she would have had a better father figure then protecting herself from Arnold would have ended up differently. Or even a better sister figure would have helped the situation out more. Her sister June is like her mom except without all the nagging and throwing her down attitude her mother gives to Connie. The characters in the stories all have different moods, and their own characterization. Connie is sort of like a puppet with her family, if she does something wrong she is frowned upon by basically everyone. Then comes June, her sister the smart go getter and the girl who does everything completely right and the person her mom praises the most out of the two sisters. And then comes next is Connie’s mother. Connie’s mother was very strict with what Connie was always doing; she couldn’t put Connie down more than she already was. Then comes Connie’s father, he’s very quiet and doesn’t stick up for Connie like she wants him to. And then there’s Arnold, the guy who basically talks Connie into doing everything he says which is not such a good idea as the story goes.
Connie thinks that she and Arnold are just going for a ride, when really by his tone he doesn’t sound so promising for a nice ride. Arnold friend is the type of guy who might just do anything to get with Connie. And most likely getting in the car with him what happens will happen badly. For Connie’s situation death, rape, and even giving her the horrible memories that roll over a lifetime with her, the “right” decision could always be the worst. Since Connie is