Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Essay Example
Be Careful What You Wish For
Anything that is too much is harmful. The main character in "Where are you going, Where have you been?" Connie, faces the end conclusion of her shallow ways when she is approached by evil in human form. She had an excess of self-confidence. This self-confidence leads to a false sense of security and bad reputation. Connie also had a large amount of bad choices. She would do her best to impress boys with her looks; eventually she impressed the wrong guy. This short story by Joyce Carol Oates is an allegory tale for moral choice in modern times. Unfortunately we learn the most from stories with tragic endings. Through this story it is important for all girls to be careful what they wish for and the way they portray themselves, because the wrong attitude can lead you to the wrong person. Connie is clearly a girl of two minds; she was so full of herself. Most girls want to be attractive and noticed, but for Connie that was the only thing she had. I think that she based her confidence on her looks entirely without factoring in things like personality or family. Since it was her only escape, Connie would spend hours glancing in the mirrors and erasing her every flaw. Connie felt as if she stayed beautiful then everything will be fine. The author even says, ""She knew she was pretty and that was everything."(337) This is a problem because when a girl is just blind by her beauty they value nothing or no one. They can be very selfish and careless. The people who surrounded Connie knew how egotistical she was. Her mother even told her, "Stop Gawking at yourself, who are you? You think you are so pretty?" (337) Mothers usually try to boost their child's confidence so it's evident that Connie had the inverse problem. Another thing I found interesting is that Connie assumed that her mother favored her sister, June, because she is not as pretty. I don't think that the mother felt bad for June, she was probably annoyed with
Anything that is too much is harmful. The main character in "Where are you going, Where have you been?" Connie, faces the end conclusion of her shallow ways when she is approached by evil in human form. She had an excess of self-confidence. This self-confidence leads to a false sense of security and bad reputation. Connie also had a large amount of bad choices. She would do her best to impress boys with her looks; eventually she impressed the wrong guy. This short story by Joyce Carol Oates is an allegory tale for moral choice in modern times. Unfortunately we learn the most from stories with tragic endings. Through this story it is important for all girls to be careful what they wish for and the way they portray themselves, because the wrong attitude can lead you to the wrong person. Connie is clearly a girl of two minds; she was so full of herself. Most girls want to be attractive and noticed, but for Connie that was the only thing she had. I think that she based her confidence on her looks entirely without factoring in things like personality or family. Since it was her only escape, Connie would spend hours glancing in the mirrors and erasing her every flaw. Connie felt as if she stayed beautiful then everything will be fine. The author even says, ""She knew she was pretty and that was everything."(337) This is a problem because when a girl is just blind by her beauty they value nothing or no one. They can be very selfish and careless. The people who surrounded Connie knew how egotistical she was. Her mother even told her, "Stop Gawking at yourself, who are you? You think you are so pretty?" (337) Mothers usually try to boost their child's confidence so it's evident that Connie had the inverse problem. Another thing I found interesting is that Connie assumed that her mother favored her sister, June, because she is not as pretty. I don't think that the mother felt bad for June, she was probably annoyed with