Connie

            Initiation stories are stories in which a character, usually the main character, undergoes a transformation from childhood to adulthood. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been is an example of an initiation story. The main character, Connie, lives in a tunnel vision teenage world. When she is suddenly faced with a deadly situation with Arnold Friend, a deranged murderer, she has an immediate realization of the real world. In Connie's case, if you have no personal identity, you cannot survive.
             In an "initiation- story, a character, such as Connie, is usually portrayed as a child early on in the story. While Connie is not an actual small child, but instead a fifteen year old teenager, her actions direct the reader to seeing a childish side of her. "Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home."" (pg. 1089) As with many teenagers, this is a common trait of Connie also, but it is one makes her seem immature. Connie is a typical teenager who is engulfed entirely in her own world of superficial things. She is described as having 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."" (pg. 1089) This directly shows that she has no true self identity, therefore, making the reader feel that Connie is very childish. Connie's close-mindedness is shown when the narrator says Connie, "knew she was pretty and that was everything."" (pg. 1089) In Connie's eyes, that is all that matters to her. A world of fun, friends, and physical features is all that revolves around her. The reader of this initiation story however, may realize that there is more to life than those superficial things. Connie does not yet realize this and therefore is seen as a child. It is a crucial part of this story that the reader feels the character, Connie, is immature in many ways in order for them to see the initiation later on.