Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

Where Are you going where have you been:
by: Joyce Carol Oates

I think Connie is very self-centered. I don't think her mother is "jealous" of her, but that I probably irrates her that her daughter doesn't don thinks that are expected of her, ie: cleaning her room, cooking and being financially savvy.Maybe her mother is struggle internally at the fact that she's older and her beauty has faded. I think that Connie's family is dysfunctional; especially being that the "man of the house" isn't really involved with his family. I thought it was interesting how Connie would do things differently once she gets out of the house. I believe that alot of teens, mainly girls, try to get away with wearing certain clothes to gain attention from the opposite sex. The part of the story thatn became most interesting to me was when Arnold Friend came into the picture. He seems to be a random guy that had been stalking Connie. It really freaked me out as I was reading along. I understood what Connie meant when she said that he looked "familiar". Arnold knew how to potray the image of a young highschool teenager with the tight pants and the pullover shirts. It was like he was playing a role and Connie was confused by that. Eventhough she didn't get in the car, I'm sure she was considering it to some point. After reading the story, I started thinking about online predators and pedifiles that look for young naive girls to take advantage of. It's a scary world out there.