Ainoon Khan Discussion 13

This story is about young love.

Connie explains throughout the story that she is constantly being compared to her older sister, June, by her mother and her mother’s sisters. They always talk very highly of June and get very excited when they hear her name and that June does a lot more for the family than Connie. June saved money and helped to do chores around the house, which they appreciated so much that they looked at Connie as an outsider in the family and always belittled her.

When Arnold Friend came in front of her home, she immediately pushed him away and was rude to him. She explained that she had other things to do instead of going out for a ride with him because he did not want him to know that she was interested in him, as it would his ego much higher. He constantly called her sweet and caring names, had asked a lot of their mutual friends about Connie and explained that he wanted to be with her.

Towards the end, she realizes that she wants to be with the boy as well, as it makes her heart pound and she feels that she can finally have something to herself. She says this because Arnold saw Connie for who she was and accepted her. She liked that she wasn’t compared to anyone else, especially her older sister. She didn’t accept it at first because she thought that what he was said was fake and silly and she did not want to be hurt. She was not close with her family and did not grow up with showing love and affection. She did not have a strong relationship with her father, and she wished that her mother had died. She was scared and pushed Arnold Friend back because she did not know how love should be shown and expressed. When she finally accepted it, she held onto it tightly. Unfortutanety, if something was to happen between them, Connie would be absolutely devastated and it would be a lot harder for her to love which would cause her to building a brick around her heart.

It is very important to listen and love children and not compare them to anyone else. If you don’t give your child love, they will go out in the world looking for it, when it should have been given to them first hand by their family. Most girls that I knew and associated myself with did not have good relationship with their families, and were very young (teenage and young adults) so when they got into a relationship with a boy it took them a long time to understand the boy’s love for the them, and when they finally did, they held onto it super tight.