Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Where Are You Going Where Have You Been - Essay Example She is the complete opposite of Connie’s, which is the prime reason why Connie’s mother nags her and expects her to emulate her sister more. Their mother is a typical maternal figure and is the source of Connie’s distress, who sometimes wished for her mother to die. Whereas, her father was a busy man, who always worked and hardly had time to talk to anyone in the family. 2. How does Connie view her mother, and vice versa?   Connie views her mother as the primary source distress and frustration in her life as her mother always expects her to be more like her sister. They bicker almost all the time and in the story it is often hinted that her mother envies Connie’s youth and beauty both things that Connie’s mother has lost but Connie admires them in the mirror all the time. There is a lot of friction between the two characters and at one point Connie even wishes for her to die. 3. Why is the father's role so minimal in the story? How is this signifi cant?   The story depicts a typical American family, with a mother, father and two children. The father is shown to be the provider and he takes care of all the demands and needs of the family. His role is largely minimal in the story because the author wants to point out the general role of a father in a domestic household, where the man works and the mother manages the household and is responsible for rearing the children. 4. What are the "two sides" of Connie's life? Why is she split this way?   The two sides of Connie’s life represent ‘fantasy’ and ‘reality’. The schism between these two facets of Connie’s life is understandable, as reality depicts what Connie really is and her fantasy include what she wants to be. In reality, Connie is juts a 15 year old and though she is beautiful, she still has a very childlike view of the world and boys in general. She just pretends to act like an adult but when the time came to stand up to Arnold Friend she yelled for her mother, which showed her juvenile insecurity in her nature. The split in the two sides to her life came with the notion that Connie can never fir in to what she imagined herself to be. 5. How does Connie feel about boys? Sex? Is she a typical teen in her fantasies?   Connie for all her immaturity is aware of the beauty that she endowed with. She acts as an adult to convey a powerful sexual image but lacks the power to consistently carry that image due to her juvenility. Her sexual fantasies are largely based on the pop-culture of the society and wishes for a fairy-tale like sexual experience but when she goes with a boy for the first time in an alley, she realizes that life a has lot more to it than just fairytales. However, her immature fantasies are understandable because she is just a 15 year old girl and is just acting her age; hence, Connie is depicted as an archetypal starry-eyed teenager in the story. 6. What is the significance of Arnold's masquer ade? (Car, clothes, boots, glasses...). Why can't Connie see through it at first? At what point does she begin to see through the mask?   There is a story motif attached to Arnold’s character in the story with his Gold convertible, expensive clothes and shades. He represents ‘desire’ for every teenager, because young people at some point or another all dream about more money and power. He even exudes certain amount sexuality that draws Connie towards him; which signifies the materialistic approach that every teenage girl or boy has at this age. However, she soon realizes that when he starts to threaten that he would harm her family that is when she realizes the scary face behind the