Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Group

Question:

dgomez
dgomez
Student
College - Sophomore

Why is Connie so complacent? What is so appealing about the dream world she exists in?

Rate question:

Posted by dgomez on Sunday September 20, 2009 at 11:23 AM and tagged with character, complacency, connie, daydreams, inaction.

Answers:


  1. podunc Teacher
    College - Sophomore

    eNotes Editor

    Oates suggests that Connie's inaction (or complacency) in the story is due to a lack of moral "center" in her life. She does not have any strong convictions about anything except her own beauty (the narrator informs us that "she knew she was pretty and that was everything"). The world of "trashy daydreams" that Connie lives in is something she embraces rather than facing the mundane and unsettling aspects of her home life. We are told that Connie's father works most of the time and that her mother constantly "pick[s] at her" while praising Connie's older sister. It is her complacency and tendency to lose touch with reality that makes Connie a target for Arnold Friend.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/where-are
    http://www.enotes.com/where-are/characters

    Rate answer:

    Posted by podunc on Sunday September 27, 2009 at 4:21 AM