Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?

I thought this story by Joyce Carol Oates was really interesting.  I thought the concept was unusual, a girl leaving her house to go with the "bad guys".  I would think that the logical thing to do would be to stay inside.  I think things in this story really started to go wrong when Connie didn't immediately ignore the guys that came to her door.  If she just stayed quiet in the house, where they couldn't see her they might have left.

I thought the ending was really good, although I wish you found out what actually happened to Connie.  The story kind of just stops when she walks outside.  You kind of get the idea that she probably ends up dead, but I still would have liked for the author to explain what happened.

I was kind of confused as to why she wouldn't just stay in the house.  She doesn't really like her family, she said she wishes her mom was dead, so the fact that she gave up her life for them didn't make a lot of sense to me.  I think the reason she left is more because of all of the things Arnold is saying he can give her.  She knows that he's not actually going to give them to her but after living in her sister's shadow and having her mother disapprove of her she wants out of her house.  She was described as having a head full of daydreams and listening to music and watching movies that were about love.  She just wants to be away from her family who don't really respect her and with someone who loves her.  So when this guy shows up telling her that he'll love her, she knows that he's trouble and it's not going to end well for her, but still goes with him anyways.

The lyrics of Daydreaming by Paramore really remind me of this story.  http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/paramore/daydreaming.html