What The World Has Done...

In "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been"" the author, Joyce Carol Oates,

essentially asserts that the nuances of one's personality are not generated from within, but rather

shaped by external circumstances. This is an argument whose justification is abundantly clear in

the inner conflict of Connie, the protagonist of the book. The source of that struggle is her

unstable relationship with her family, which ultimately results in her identity conflict. As one

who always been deprived of father-figure, she feels the need to acquire attention from boys in

order to fill that void.

The realism and characterization with which Oates makes this point in the story have

garnered much praise. Connie is presented as the quintessential teenage girl. Like any other

female adolescent, she is preoccupied with make up, boys and music. Great characterization is

seen in Arnold Friend - described...