Loss of Innocence

A loss of innocence is a common theme. A loss of innocence means a character is enforced to mature, usually by facing a disturbing incident. A loss of innocence also means losing childhood views and ethics. It really means that you are losing childhood and coming in a world where everything gets harder. A loss of innocence commonly has a negative meaning, and it can happen at any age anytime. I think loss of innocence is an authoritative intermediate period for the main characters. I perceive innocence as the absence of emotional ability to understand the nature. After growing up, we experience good and bad. So we lose our innocence by obtaining knowledge. Innocence is usually related to childhood and ignorance. The loss of one’s innocence is linked with the troubles of the world. Innocence can be inferred in multiple ways. The loss of innocence involves something that society holds sacred. Each member of a specific culture or religion experiences a loss of innocence at least once in their lives. “Where are you going, where have you been?” is about a self-important teenager Connie the main character, who is the symbol of the loss of innocence. Connie wants to show and act older than her age (Oates 481). Arnold accepts the character of teenage Romeo even though he is much older, and Connie accepts his concealment because of her affection for the “trashy daydreams” (Oates 483). Connie faces the difficult change from girlhood to womanhood. She is unclear of which characterizes the real her. Arnold Friend undertakes many personalities throughout the story. Arnold Friend’s name is a shadowy joke, An Old Fiend. Arnold Friend is the devil in mask. He uses makeup on his face that makes him look younger than he really is. He tells Connie that he is eighteen, but she guesses that he must be at least 30 (Oates 488). I believe everyone is innocent, but predictably slack it somehow by the time they are teenage. A theme that runs through “Where are you going, where have you been?” is loss of innocence which appears to be the passage from childhood to adulthood.

Connie is the main character of the story and a round character. Connie changes significantly throughout the story (Oates 481). Before Arnold Friend came around she was like any other teenager but when he forced her to go on a ride with him, she became a scared little girl. Connie’s language and actions tell that she is a round character. Connie is very complex girl and have many sided. Only one side of Arnold is shown throughout the story (Oates 485). He is pretty insistent. In the story, there is an antagonist-protagonist between Connie. Connie is a protagonist and Arnold is antagonist and a flat character. He kept on insisting her to take a ride with him. He threats Connie. Without Arnold's appearance, Connie would never have changed and her innocence might stay for a little longer (Oates 486). Arnold Friend show great interest in Connie. The motivation of these two