What is the significance of the ending of Joyce Carol Oates's "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been"?

As Connie comes to realize that she is in real trouble and that there is no way out, she looses her sense of hearing for a time. She does not have the background music in her head that protected her from reality. Her house and family cannot protect her either. In fact, she must protect her family now because Arnold has threatened to hurt them if she does not go with him. Arnold tells her that the only reason for a girl like her to exist is to be sweet and pretty and to give in. This implies a traditional view of women, which is to sacrifice self for family. However, by giving in to Arnold Friend, Connie, a symbol of sacrifice, also takes on the role of hero because she goes voluntarily into a land she "had never seen before" at the end of the story.