Where You Going Where Have You Been Character Analysis
A major difference between an adult and a child is the realization to the reality around them. Children tend to live in a world full of no worries and being nurtured whenever they need something. A true adult realizes what is around him/her and accepts it for what it is. Elie was forced to grow up for if he hadn’t grown up and realized he needed to give it his all in order to survive considering he would never have made it out alive otherwise. Finny struggles to accept how things are considering he lives in his own perfect world. Connie put herself in an adult and more mature world when her mentality was still in a young and innocent state. In Night by Elie Wiesel , Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates, and A Separate
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Peace by John Knowles all show that innocence must be gone for a person to make it into adulthood. It is natural for a child to cling to their parents when things get tough, and it would take something very hard in order to watch them go away without knowing if they will be okay. Ellie is forced to grow up due to being pulled away from most of his family and he still even when separated from his mom and sisters clings to his dad because that is what a kid would do when they were scared and didn’t know what to do. Ellie explained the after the separation from his mother “My hand shifted on my father's arm. I had one thought- not to lose him”(Wiesel 27). With the rest of the family gone and it being only Elie and his dad the only thing that he is afraid of is losing his father at this point considering it is all he had left. His innocence shows very strongly with the dependence he has with his dad, but at the same time he can’t be expected at his age to accept what is happening. There comes a time in everyone's life when they just have to accept what is best for them and for those around them. A child would try to hold on to the lies but a true adult would do what is best and accept life for what it is. Ellie has been holding on to his father the whole book and it hurts Ellie's ability to survive considering the amount of nurturing his dad required in his physical state, but the only thing keeping him inside his childhood is his father being around. As a kid he has clinged to the only family he had left, but it had to come to a point where he had to let that go to save himself an realize that he could make if he puts all of his energy into his own well being. Ellie said all though saddened by the death of his father he said “I had but one desire- to eat. I no longer thought of my father or of my mother”(Wiesel 107). Elie was only 15 at the death of his dad and most kids would have stuck by him no matter what, but Ellie no longer had the innocence that the average kid his age would have considering what he has already experienced. He knew what was going to happen and he also knew there was no way to stop that. The denial of what was going on was long gone, and deep inside he needed to save his energy and once he did he was much more likely to come out alive. Children stay children until deep inside they decide that it is time to experience and take in a change in their life. Experiences are exactly what shape a person and it takes more than a child too let go of the past and look to the realistic future. Phineas was completely unable to let go of his childish ways. He was a nice kid and everyone loved him, but he was so innocent there was no way he would’ve made it in the war or even his adulthood. He would’ve been that one friend who may live inside an adult body but is still a child at heart and even though people love having him around he just isn’t serving much meaningful purpose. Gene tells Finny late in the story “You wouldn’t be any good at war”(Knowles 182). He later explains why which would be completely true that in the middle of the war that Finny would be the one that tries to play games with the opposing force. Finny like any other kid makes friends with anyone at anytime and that is his innocence. He sees the good in everyone, but in order to grow up a person has to see there is evil in the world as well. The average teenage girl can be stereotyped to be very attention seeking which is part of being a kid.
A kid wants to be noticed, but some people don’t go about it the right way in order to get the attention that they are seeking. Connie gets her attention through the way in which she walks and the questionable clothing she wears. At some point a person has to at least have the awareness and maturity to know when they are on dangerous grounds. She is too innocent to realize that Arnold Friend is not there for good intentions but he is giving her the attention she wants from people so even if she has a bad feeling about him she still feels attracted as much as she feels repelled. “She couldn’t decide if she liked him or if he was just a jerk”(Oates 4). An adult woman who knows what to look for in a guy past his appearance would know right away that Arnold is not someone that they would want to be associated with. Innocence becomes dangerous in this story considering Connie really doesn’t know any better, for up to this point she hasn’t seen anything go wrong as a result of the way she was acting, but until something was too show her that her ways were wrong she could never know to stop doing what she was doing in which case eventually her innocence was going to hurt her. A person cannot mature past their child like behaviors until that innocence that they once had is lost and until then they cannot get out of the stage in which they are
in. In Night by Elie Wiesel , Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates, and A Separate Peace by John Knowles all show that innocence must be gone for a person to make it past childhood. Out of the three main characters Ellie was the one that grew up at the right time for he knew what was up ahead of him where Finny and Connie didn’t know, because of their innocence. Finny would never have made it in the war and it was only a matter of time until Connie felt repercussions based on her behavior outside of her home. An adult may only be an adult if they have gotten past their innocence in the world for age really doesn’t matter if that person cannot actually realize things for what they are.
Peace by John Knowles all show that innocence must be gone for a person to make it into adulthood. It is natural for a child to cling to their parents when things get tough, and it would take something very hard in order to watch them go away without knowing if they will be okay. Ellie is forced to grow up due to being pulled away from most of his family and he still even when separated from his mom and sisters clings to his dad because that is what a kid would do when they were scared and didn’t know what to do. Ellie explained the after the separation from his mother “My hand shifted on my father's arm. I had one thought- not to lose him”(Wiesel 27). With the rest of the family gone and it being only Elie and his dad the only thing that he is afraid of is losing his father at this point considering it is all he had left. His innocence shows very strongly with the dependence he has with his dad, but at the same time he can’t be expected at his age to accept what is happening. There comes a time in everyone's life when they just have to accept what is best for them and for those around them. A child would try to hold on to the lies but a true adult would do what is best and accept life for what it is. Ellie has been holding on to his father the whole book and it hurts Ellie's ability to survive considering the amount of nurturing his dad required in his physical state, but the only thing keeping him inside his childhood is his father being around. As a kid he has clinged to the only family he had left, but it had to come to a point where he had to let that go to save himself an realize that he could make if he puts all of his energy into his own well being. Ellie said all though saddened by the death of his father he said “I had but one desire- to eat. I no longer thought of my father or of my mother”(Wiesel 107). Elie was only 15 at the death of his dad and most kids would have stuck by him no matter what, but Ellie no longer had the innocence that the average kid his age would have considering what he has already experienced. He knew what was going to happen and he also knew there was no way to stop that. The denial of what was going on was long gone, and deep inside he needed to save his energy and once he did he was much more likely to come out alive. Children stay children until deep inside they decide that it is time to experience and take in a change in their life. Experiences are exactly what shape a person and it takes more than a child too let go of the past and look to the realistic future. Phineas was completely unable to let go of his childish ways. He was a nice kid and everyone loved him, but he was so innocent there was no way he would’ve made it in the war or even his adulthood. He would’ve been that one friend who may live inside an adult body but is still a child at heart and even though people love having him around he just isn’t serving much meaningful purpose. Gene tells Finny late in the story “You wouldn’t be any good at war”(Knowles 182). He later explains why which would be completely true that in the middle of the war that Finny would be the one that tries to play games with the opposing force. Finny like any other kid makes friends with anyone at anytime and that is his innocence. He sees the good in everyone, but in order to grow up a person has to see there is evil in the world as well. The average teenage girl can be stereotyped to be very attention seeking which is part of being a kid.
A kid wants to be noticed, but some people don’t go about it the right way in order to get the attention that they are seeking. Connie gets her attention through the way in which she walks and the questionable clothing she wears. At some point a person has to at least have the awareness and maturity to know when they are on dangerous grounds. She is too innocent to realize that Arnold Friend is not there for good intentions but he is giving her the attention she wants from people so even if she has a bad feeling about him she still feels attracted as much as she feels repelled. “She couldn’t decide if she liked him or if he was just a jerk”(Oates 4). An adult woman who knows what to look for in a guy past his appearance would know right away that Arnold is not someone that they would want to be associated with. Innocence becomes dangerous in this story considering Connie really doesn’t know any better, for up to this point she hasn’t seen anything go wrong as a result of the way she was acting, but until something was too show her that her ways were wrong she could never know to stop doing what she was doing in which case eventually her innocence was going to hurt her. A person cannot mature past their child like behaviors until that innocence that they once had is lost and until then they cannot get out of the stage in which they are
in. In Night by Elie Wiesel , Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates, and A Separate Peace by John Knowles all show that innocence must be gone for a person to make it past childhood. Out of the three main characters Ellie was the one that grew up at the right time for he knew what was up ahead of him where Finny and Connie didn’t know, because of their innocence. Finny would never have made it in the war and it was only a matter of time until Connie felt repercussions based on her behavior outside of her home. An adult may only be an adult if they have gotten past their innocence in the world for age really doesn’t matter if that person cannot actually realize things for what they are.