Essay --

Connie is the prime illustration of a "fancy girl on the boulevard flagging down all of the flashy cars. She is beautiful as she fixes her nail cuticles; her lipstick is suitable to make one fiend for more. However, she soon realizes that she'll never escape the allure of a pervert yelling at her door. In the short story â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been†? By Joyce Carol Oats, the main character Connie possesses the features of a woman, but is only fifteen. Surprisingly, she is searching for freedom from her dysfunctional and unsupportive family. The absence of a father figure and the ongoing conflict with her mother and sister can be regarded as the cause of Connie's emptiness that directed her search for independence. The relationship that Connie has with her mother is one that involves verbal assault. Connie’s mother never speaks well of Connie and is unkind to her. In comparison, Connie is disrespectful towards her mother and doesn’t view her as a noble mother. The primary cause for this contentious relationship is because her mother is envious that "her looks were gone and that was why she was always after Connie† (25). The relationship with her Sister June is also spiteful because their mother praises June much more than Connie. June contributes to the household while Connie does not and only cares about her daydreams, music, and appearance. June represents everything Connie despises such as responsibility, professionalism, and dullness. June serves as the opposing character to which Connie is continuously compared to. Nonetheless, their sibling rivalry causes a great deal of hostility. On top of the quarrelsome relationships, the household lacks a father figure since he wo rks during the day, arrives home late each e... ...d the narrow circle of her consciousness and allows the story to transition into a general allegorical level. Using the narrative point of view establishes credibility in what we read and allows the reader to come up with their own perception of the story Family plays a pivotal role in everybody's life. However, a vast majority of adolescents do not realize the importance of family until they are adults and reach a level of maturity. Unfortunately for Connie it was too late, and she never cherished things of little value until her life or family's was on the line. Although she didn't have the ideal family and had constant conflicts with them, she truly loved them as she sacrificed her life for theirs. One can only ask the question of how the outcome would have turned out if Connie’s family would have shown her the love that she was in the wrong places searching for.