them feel good to be able to ignore him.

They didn't like the boy and thus they ignore him. Connie seems incapable of independent thought.

This changes when Arnold Friend appears at Connie's house. At first, she is simply dismissive, not even seeing him as a threat, which is true to her character thus far. In fact, her first thought as the car comes up the drive is "how bad she looked." As Arnold emerges from the car and engages Connie in conversation, she is true to her initial character:

Connie blushed a little, because the glasses made it impossible for her to see just what this boy was looking at. She couldn't decide if she liked him or if he was just a jerk, and so she dawdled in the doorway and wouldn't come down or go back inside.

Eventually, Connie realizes that she has made a mistake and that Arnold actually poses a danger to her. She asks him to leave and threatens to call the police, and Arnold then vows that he will take revenge on her family if she does:

But if you don't come out we're gonna wait till your people come home and then they're all going to get it.

Arnold Friend seems to know everything about Connie and everything about everyone she knows. She thus begins to believe his words and slowly realizes that she must sacrifice herself in order to save her family. This is an independent act that the Connie early in the story could not have fathomed. As she leaves with him, Arnold assures her:

You're better than them because not a one of them would have done this for you.

Thus, Connie proves a dynamic character who in the end values the lives of her family more than her own and leaves with Arnold Friend to meet a certain and violent death—and her family will likely never know of her sacrifice. Connie's final act is independently selfless, a sharp contrast to her shallow beginnings in the story.

The tools of that a writer uses for characterization include description, what the character says and does—which can contain discrepancies—and what others say about the character. Here are examples of each to assist in a character analysis of Connie.

Description: Connie "was fifteen" and had "a quick, nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors." It is fair to say that she is immature and in the self-absorbed throes of adolescent girlhood. She is entering a personality phase some call boy crazy and spends weeks of her summer vacation "thinking, dreaming about the boys she met." The narrator offers that "everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home" to suggest the typical duplicity that comes with teen rebellion.

What the character says/does with discrepancies: Connie sometimes thinks to herself that she wishes both she and her mother were dead "and it was all over." She tells her friends "She makes me want to throw up sometimes." However, when Arnold Friend has her cornered, Connie "cried for her mother" and thought "I'm not going to see my mother again," two clear indications that she does love and need her mother.

The character who probably knows Connie best is her mother; what she says about Connie is that she is vain, she tells her "stop gawking at yourself." Her exasperation with Connie is clear on the day of the barbecue when she tells her "stay home alone then" when Connie rolls her eyes at the prospect of a family gathering.

Joyce Carol Oates' short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is a frequently anthologized story that has stirred controversy since its publication.

In this disturbing story, based on the actions of serial killer Charles "Smitty" Schmid, the author focuses first on Connie, a fifteen-year old girl who struggles because she is a kid who wants to be an adult. 

Connie is described as an adolescent girl who...

...sleepwalks through life listening to music only she seems to hear.

She is constantly in search of who she is. She had...

…a quick nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people's faces to make sure her own was all right.

We can understand Connie's confusion over whether she is acceptable in observing her mother's response to Connie's behavior:

Stop gawking at yourself, who are you? You think you're so pretty?

However, in this case Connie does not worry so much about what her mother says about her looks because...

…knew she was pretty and that was everything.

The reader realizes that her mother is not supportive (or perhaps is not even aware) of Connie's search for self-awareness. Her mother is also critical that Connie is not more like her sister, constantly comparing the two. 

Connie's concern with her appearance is not the only thing we learn about the youngster. Using indirect characterization, the reader is able to gain insight into the kinds of things Connie does and what she thinks. While her sister June is praised for all the things she does, "Connie couldn't do a thing." Her mother's perception is that Connie is of no help around the house, and "her mind was all filled with trashy daydreams."

She is described as having...

…a high, breathless, amused voice which made everything she said sound a little forced, whether it was sincere or not.

In this we can infer that she is not always sincere in what she says. She likes to hang out with her friends at the mall, where they "lean together to whisper and laugh secretly if someone passed by who amused or interested them." In this behavior, we see that Connie is a typical young teenager. She also has a way of acting when she is out that is nothing like the person she is when she is at home.

She had a pullover jersey blouse that looked one way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home. Everything about her had two sides to it...

The narrator represents Connie a young woman with chameleon-like capabilities. At home she dresses and speaks differently than when she is out. She is smirky and cynical at home. When she is out, she is a different person.

While all of this may not be unusual, it is sneaky. And it makes one wonder who Connie really is in that she is so adept at wearing different personalities depending upon where she is.

When Connie and her friend run across the highway to the hamburger place, they are described as "breathless with daring," which indicates that they should not be there. It is where the older boys hang out. Connie and her friend are not simply interested in boys. They are looking for the right kind of boys. On this particular night they are called over to a car by a boy at school that they don't like, so they simply ignore him and this makes them feel good. Obviously this experience fills them with a sense of being wanted and having the power to refuse the attention. Connie hangs out with a guy named Eddie for a couple of hours, meeting her girlfriend back at the mall just in time to get a ride home from her friend's father. When she gets home and is asked about the movie she was supposed to see, she lies as if she had been there.

Connie is young, but wants to be older. She believes that one's outward appearance is of paramount importance. She is sneaky, lies to her mother and dismisses people she does not like. However, there is an innocence to her, as seen in her thrill at being alive and her strong emotional response to music. When Arnold Friend and his buddy show up, she is smart enough to be scared. We can postulate that she may be shallow and self-absorbed, but she is also harmless and unfamiliar with the dangerous world of which she so wants to be a part.

The short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates tells of a fifteen-year-old girl named Connie who deceives her parents by telling them that she is going to movies in a nearby town while actually going to the drive-in to pick up boys and make out. At one of her drive-in incursions, she attracts the attention of a man who calls himself Arnold Friend. He drives his convertible to Connie's parent's house when he knows she is alone and invites her for a ride. When she refuses, he threatens her family, and eventually she feels compelled to go with him. The story is based on actual murders of high school girls that took place in Arizona in the mid-1960s.

The story was first published in 1966. In some ways, Connie represents a typical suburban American teenage girl from this time period. For instance, her father is a remote figure who works most of the time and comes home only to rest. Connie looks down on her mother and her sister. Her room is a mess and smells of hair spray. She visits shopping plazas, movie theaters, and drive-ins with her friends, and when she is out, she acts differently than when she is at home. When she and her friends go to the drive-in, she lies to her mother about where she has been. These are all typical of things that teenage girls might have done in the 1960s.

However, Oates emphasizes that Connie is beautiful, and this causes her sometimes to act atypically compared to other teenage girls. For example, she constantly glances into mirrors to be sure her face is all right. She compares her appearance favorably with her mother, who used to be beautiful. She flirts with boys and often allows them to pick her up. She believes that her mother secretly likes her better than her sister because she is prettier. These characteristics are not typical of all teenage girls, but only those who assess the reactions of others and realize that they are attractive.

The answer to this question is subjective: a reader could answer "yes" or "no" and defend that position. High school students reading this story today wouldn't have been alive in the 1960s, when the story takes place, so it is probably more appropriate to ask whether or not Connie could still be considered a typical teenage girl.

I think most readers would agree that Connie is a solid representation of a teenage girl. That is what helps give this piece of literature its longevity: the characters and the situations still strongly resonate with a modern-day audience. Connie might seem naive (especially based on the story's ending), but Connie is also an extremely real-feeling character. Connie is focused on her outward appearance, and this is still a focus of teens today. It's partly why selfies exist and why teenagers will take multiple selfies to capture their image just right. Connie also thinks that her family is a bit embarrassing. I'm quite certain that every teenager has thought that at one point or another. Connie is also exploring who she is. She is seeking independence from her family and trying on various personas in the same way that teenagers today do. It's why she acts one way at home and other ways depending on the location and social group. Oates writes,

She wore a pull-over jersey blouse that looked one way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home. Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home: her walk, which could be childlike and bobbing, or languid enough to make anyone think she was hearing music in her head; her mouth, which was pale and smirking most of the time, but bright and pink on these evenings out; her laugh, which was cynical and drawling at home—"Ha, ha, very funny,"—but high pitched and nervous anywhere else, like the jingling of the charms on her bracelet.

The character of Connie shows a mix of typical and unique characteristics. Joyce Carol Oates has carefully crafted an environment rich in period details as well as including some factors evoking the place. Connie seems typical, especially early in the story, for her boredom and desire for more excitement in her life. Her activities and tastes seen ordinary.

As the story progresses, however, we can see her as a little needy or too desirous of excitement, which leads her to be careless. The bland average situation is replaced by small, threatening elements as Arnold's character is revealed. Oates skillfully adds more such elements until the last few, scary pages. Connie is paralyzed with fear, where a more self-confident person would probably actively resist. Arnold had correctly assessed her as a likely victim and preys upon those atypical aspects of her personality.

Joyce Carol Oates certainly intends for Connie to be perceived as a typical teenage girl for her place and time, but even though statistics of rebellion and youthful "storm and stress" are depressingly high, some may argue that this still does not represent the typical teenager. Be that as it may, Connie is depicted as a typical teenage girl who is battling for her place in the world as a young woman even though still a daughter, offspring, friend, sister, potential mate. She is depicted as walking the tightrope between girlhood and womanhood.

She is also depicted as typically having two identities, one for school and one for home, between which she feels torn and unsure. She is also depicted as being attracted to the concept of "boyfriend" instead of being fond of a particular boy whom she desires as a boyfriend. It is these last two points of inner divisiveness that, even though they are meant to be "typical," may be argued as that which sets her apart from typical.

Inspired to write her short story "Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?" after reading an account in Life magazine of a strangely influential young man who lured and then killed several girls in Tucson, Arizona, in the early 1960s, Joyce Carol Oates's character of Connie represents the naive, superficial, and self-centered pretty teen-aged girl with Romantic illusions, caught between childhood and adulthood.  (Some critics even go so far as to say that she represents Eve, or spiritually unenlightened humanity.)  As the selfish, naive, and pretty teen, Connie is a fusion of the materialistic and symbolic world in her duality:

Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home:  her walk that could be childlike and bobbing or languid enough to make anyone think she was hearing music in her head....

Unconcerned about the other members of her family, Connie is consumed with her "trashy daydreams"; when she is with her friends, she talks in an exaggerated manner, high and breathless,

which made everything she said sound a little forced whether it was sincere or not.

But, the boys who pay attention to Connie, whom she enjoys ignoring, fade from a face to "an idea." Her complacency in her beauty leads the naive Connie to lose touch with reality because "[S]he knew she was pretty and that was everything." In her delight with the materialistic world in which beauty is so highly valued, Connie also creates a symbolic world in which music "made everything so good."  It is this symbolic world that Arnold Friend, himself a preternatural character, invades.  And, he invades it because in her duality, Connie has allowed illusion in the form of music to enter and make her susceptible to evil.

The moment Connie grows up in Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is when she is confronted with the sense that she is trapped and realizes exactly what lies ahead of her: death at the hands of Arnold Friend.

Up until now, Connie has been a fifteen-year-old with little faith in her mother's intelligence, and little confidence in her mother's advice or the guidelines her mom has tried to impose in Connie's life for her own good. That is not to say Connie deserves to be punished at the hands of Arnold Friend: everyone makes mistakes and thankfully, most have the opportunity to not only survive them, but also to have plenty of time to accept or reject the knowledge that comes from making the mistake. Connie's life-lesson here will be her last, and I believe that is the moment that life comes into complete focus for her—providing instant and brilliant clarity. An inkling of this change begins just after she screams into the phone with no result—she must be feeling complete frustration because she is trapped: Arnold has told her that if she doesn't comply with his demands (delivered like requests with his kindly incantations), he will also "hurt" all of her family members. He asks...

"You don't want your people in any trouble, do you?"

Suddenly, she begins to see the truth of her situation—beyond this moment...past the "inkling."

She was hollow with what had been fear, but what was now just an emptiness. All that screaming had blasted it out of her. She sat, one leg cramped under her, and deep inside her brain was something like a pinpoint of light that kept going and would not let her relax. I'm not going to see my mother again. She thought, I'm not going to sleep in my bed again...

Under other circumstances, it almost sounds like something a bride might reflect upon the night before her wedding: that things with her parents wouldn't be the same anymore, and that she wouldn't ever sleep in her bed again. If that were the case, it would be a rite of passage. However, in this situation, she is leaving the things of childhood behind...but not for a new life. This, then, is the moment Connie grows up.

Her thinking changes dramatically and she sees the world very much like an old soul approaching death:

She felt her pounding heart. Her hand seemed to enclose it. She thought for the first time in her life that it was nothing that was hers, that belonged to her, but just a pounding, living thing inside this body that wasn't hers either. 

This sounds very much like coming to terms with a hard lesson—which is very much the case with Connie, but it comes at too great a price.

Oates in many ways gives Connie distinct physical characteristics and puts her in a distinct family, but she also presents her as an "every girl," a very typical, pretty teenage girl coming into an awareness of her own sexuality.

Connie is described in ways that make her seem like an average teen of her period. She has "a quick, nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors." Her mind is "all filled with trashy daydreams." She is merged with her best friend in the following description, emphasizing her "teenager" status:

They must have been familiar sights, walking around the shopping plaza in their shorts and flat ballerina slippers that always scuffed the sidewalk, with charm bracelets jingling on their thin wrists.

Connie could be any middle-class adolescent girl feeling adulthood coming and enjoying the independence it brings, but she is still an innocent child.

Oates makes it clear that Connie has done nothing especially abnormal or egregious when she attracts the attention of a psychopathic killer. Though her attitude toward her parents and sister may be rude, she still holds a large degree of innocence and even love for her family (as is seen with her sacrifice for them at the end), and her teenage rebellion is somewhat normal.

This is what brings the poignant note to the story of her being abducted for rape and murder (Arnold Friend is based on a killer, Charles Schmid). Connie, no more than any young girl, doesn't deserve rape and death for innocently enjoying her budding sexuality, but because of that sexuality, she attracts the attention of Friend. Connie doesn't realize that this might make her—or any teenager—seem fair game to predatory and twisted men who see women not as fully human but as prey.