Connie's Insecurities

“She cried out, she cried for her mother, she felt her breath start jerking back and forth in her lungs as if it were something Arnold Friend was stabbing her with again and again with no tenderness.” (Oates 8). This quote stated in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates shows the capture of Connie by Arnold Friend. Connie’s actions that lead up to her capture are mainly caused by her insecurities which are prevalent through these actions. Her deep-rooted insecurities influence her decisions, actions, and the way she appears to others, which ultimately leads up to the development of the story.
Connie’s deep-rooted insecurities are directly related to her anxious tendencies. Her consistent worrying about how others perceive

Connie is insecure and hyper-aware of herself and how others perceive her. Considering the fact that Connie is unhappy about aspects of herself, she judges other people to make herself feel better. According to Oates, “They would lean together to whisper and laugh secretly if someone passed who amused or interested them.” (Oates 1). This passage reveals Connie’s judgemental nature. Most people who don’t have an inferiority complex wouldn’t feel the need to ridicule others. Oates also states, “She had 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.” (Oates 1). This passage demonstrates that Connie’s insecurities cause her to consistently give herself reassurance about the way she looks by checking other people’s faces. She is actively comparing herself to these other people to give herself validation. Considering the fact that Connie actively puts others down to build herself up, Connie is experiencing deep-rooted insecurities that affect the way she treats

Her anxious trait reveals her social anxiousness and anxiety about how others perceive her, her habit of jumping to conclusions reveals that her insecurities lead to her making negative assumptions about others, and her judge-mental trait causes her to put others down to build herself up as a result of her insecurities, and the self-absorption that she possesses is used as a way to give herself reassurance about her insecurities. These traits are made apparent throughout the story to build up to Connie’s ultimate capture by Arnold in the end, as her obsession with making herself look desirable to others led to her attracting Arnold, which later led to him showing up at her house and being manipulative towards her. This was Oates's intention as without Connie’s insecurities affecting her actions, the story wouldn’t have developed in this