Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

The Bildungsroman is an ancient storytelling trope that symbolizes a coming of age and fall into experience. Although Connie’s fall into experience comes at a severe price, it still possesses all the characteristics of a classic Bildungsroman. The Bildungsroman often casts a young person as its central protagonist: a hero—reluctant or not—who is tasked with a difficult undertaking, through which experience is attained, often through bloodshed or violence. 

Connie’s story follows these characteristics, albeit in a modernist retelling of the myth. She begins the story unappreciative, self-interested, and aware only of the illusions of a naïve view on life. Her main interests over the summer are narrowly focused on boys and popular music. Her family and friends are only a useful means to an end. For these reasons, Connie at the beginning of her story leads a life of immaturity, as her perceptions of the world are not yet complete. It is only when she crosses out of the boundaries of her life, moving beyond the “ordinary world,” that she discovers a true fall into experience. 

Connie’s fall is best represented in the sudden and grisly encounter at the hands of

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