Response: Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

This story was quite disturbing to me, personally. I am not quite sure why, but it definitely shook me up. I was scared for Connie and was extremely disappointed and sad when she ended up going with Arnold Friend and Ellie in the car. I realize that she didn't necessarily want to do this, but the fact that she did was saddening. Ultimately, I thought that this story was a new sort of "coming-of-age" tale that focused on the harder aspects of growing up, rather than the cheerful and fun aspects that most stories focus on.

The beginning of the story is focused on showing the readers how desperately Connie wants to be separated from her family. The author spends most of those first few paragraphs describing how different Connie is from the rest of her family and I think that this is done in part to show Connie's perspective. While the story is not written with Connie as the narrator, I thought that this aspect of the writing gave great insight into Connie's perspective. The author does a great job of painting Connie's family in a negative light in order to show how she sees them and how she feels when she is around them. I think that this is a good representation of how many teenage girls feel at one point or another in the process of growing up. There is often a sort of alienation that is felt and the author shows that in her writing. This was all an effective method of setting up the main action in the story.

When Connie first sees Arnold at her house, she is not exactly eager to see him but she is also not completely opposed. She seems to be toying with the idea of at least talking with him. This playful spirit is quick to leave, giving Connie a sense of discomfort and fear. This is what often happens when a teenager first does something on their own; they get scared. There is excitement surrounding the idea of being on your own but fear is often an accompanying emotion because it is a new experience and there are lots of unknowns in the situation. In Connie's case, the fear is legitimate and should be attended to, while in other situations the fear should rather be overcome. Connie overcomes her fear of Arnold by screaming and releasing emotion. This might be a good strategy if the situation poses no real threat, but for her, it was a a bad choice.

The story ends as Connie walks out the door to Arnold, seemingly unaware of what she is doing. She sees the land all around Arnold and has no idea what is to come, but simply that she has just made the decision to go there. I saw this ending as one filled with consequences, concerns and fears. This is why this story saddened me. I wanted justice in the situation and for her to be strong in her decision to stay inside. But unfortunately, this is not always the case in real life situations, so it doesn't have to be in stories either.