...Who is Sammy? In the short story “A&P”; Sammy serves as the protagonist, main character and narrator. The story is told from his point of view, which I believe is very interesting because the narrative changes if this story is told from one of the other character’s point of view. This story takes places in a small conservative community with conservative views. Sammy is a 19 year old who works as a cashier at A&P grocery in a small town. Sammy can be described in many ways. He is very opinionated and observant of his surroundings. From the beginning of the story Sammy is seen as somewhat immature. Sammy seems to be very uninterested in his job but rather taken with its customers. I can relate to that somewhat. Retail can be so boring and mundane at times that you have to do something to help the time go by. He comments on everyone and everything. This serves as his entertainment to get through the day. In the story he quickly analyzes the girls as they come in the store. In fact, in the very first sentence Sammy says “in walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits”(Updike 32). It is quite an attention grabber. Sammy finds most people in town are followers and do the same thing. However, he notices “Queenie” is different. He is almost infatuated by her “sweet broad soft-looking can”(Updike 33). Based on the way he describes the girls he seems to judge people based on appearances. He depicts everything from the texture and patterns of their bathing suits to...
Words: 1107 - Pages: 5
...“A&P” Character Analysis The protagonist in “A&P” by John Updike is a static character because he reveals himself as a juvenile who remains envious of “his” girls, determined, and judgmental throughout the story. The way Sammy describes his opinion of the girls’ personalities, makes his decision at the end, and how he describes the characters reveals how his character did not change throughout the story. In “A&P” three girls wander into the grocery store while Sammy, the main character is working the cash register. Sammy instantly starts describing each of the girls and it can be assumed that the main girl in the group is his favorite. Sammy refers to her as “Queenie.” While Sammy seems quiet and shy around others, Queenie is the opposite. Sammy’s comment, “but you got the idea she had talked the other two into coming in here with her, and...
Words: 728 - Pages: 3
...A&P Story and Character Analysis “…My stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (153). Unfortunately, many people can relate to this feeling after making a mistake or unintelligent decision. “A&P”, a short story, by John Updike tells of a brief yet problematic encounter in a local supermarket. The protagonist Sammy works as a cashier at the local A&P just north of Boston. After the incident when his boss embarrassed a group of young girls in the store, he impulsively decides he wants to quit as an act of heroism for the young embarrassed girls. Because he was distracted, he made an irrational decision that affected him and the people around him negatively. In “A&P”, Updike communicates the theme of thinking...
Words: 1130 - Pages: 5
...Mallory Russell 06/12/15 Comparison Essay ENG 102 Online “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver versus “A + P” by John Updike In the short stories “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver and “A + P” by John Updike the protagonists experience an epiphany that change their restricted way of thinking. The main character, “Sammy” in John Updike’s, “A + P” is a teenage boy working in the town grocery store. Sammy experiences an epiphany when he decides to quit his job at the grocery store. He quit because he believed that it was wrong of his boss to treat customers poorly due to any pre-conceived notion that was determined by what the customer looks like. Raymond Carver’s main character named “the husband” in his story “Cathedral” experiences an epiphany when he realizes he has wrongly stereotyped, a visiting friend of his wife’s named “Robert” because he blind. The theme of both of the stories, “Cathedral” and “A+P” is that the main characters are influenced and motivated by other individuals within the story to change their close-minded thinking. In “Cathedral” the character Robert, served as the husband’s motivation for change when he comes to stay with the husband and his wife. The three teenage girls in “A + P”, serve as the motivation to change Sammy’s way of thinking when they enter the grocery store dressed risqué to the grocery store’s standards. Raymond Carver portrayed the husband in “Cathedral” as a cynical person from the beginning of the story. The husband’s wife enjoyed sharing...
Words: 1631 - Pages: 7
...Sammy, is a 19-year-old working as a cashier at an A&P. The theme becomes very obvious from the very beginning of the story. Sammy thinks that most people that he sees in his store are “sheep” (“A&P – John Updike”). To Sammy, everyone is the same; boring and lacking character, “The sheep pushing their charts down the aisle…” (“A&P – John Updike”). It is apparent that he is anxious to get out of the mold that he has been stuck in, but he doesn’t know how until the opportunity is presented to him. The opportunity finally presents itself when Sammy stops daydreaming and actually breaks free from the conventions of society when he meets Queenie. By quitting his job, Sammy experiences what it means to be free from the social norm (“SparkNotes: A7P:...
Words: 845 - Pages: 4
...HOW TO WRITE A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY The purpose of a literary analysis essay is to carefully examine and sometimes evaluate a work of literature or an aspect of a work of literature. As with any analysis, this requires you to break the subject down into its component parts. Examining the different elements of a piece of literature is not an end in itself but rather a process to help you better appreciate and understand the work of literature as a whole. For instance, an analysis of a poem might deal with the different types of images in a poem or with the relationship between the form and content of the work. If you were to analyze (discuss and explain) a play, you might analyze the relationship between a subplot and the main plot, or you might analyze the character flaw of the tragic hero by tracing how it is revealed through the acts of the play. Analyzing a short story might include identifying a particular theme (like the difficulty of making the transition from adolescence to adulthood) and showing how the writer suggests that theme through the point of view from which the story is told; or you might also explain how the main character‟s attitude toward women is revealed through his dialogue and/or actions. REMEMBER: Writing is the sharpened, focused expression of thought and study. As you develop your writing skills, you will also improve your perceptions and increase your critical abilities. Writing ultimately boils down to the development of an idea....
Words: 3487 - Pages: 14
...A&P Analysis This particular story was written by a man named John Updike, in the early 1960s. Updike wrote this story to convey a certain message to the people reading it. That message is that everyone must make their own life choices and decisions at some point, rather than let others make decisions for them. While many people may read the title of this story and believe that the theme revolves around the Anatomy and Physiology of the human body, the actual theme of this story is based on a young boy becoming a man. Throughout the story, the main character who is Sammy, describes to the audience these three girls who have came into the grocery store where he works, and are dressed in bathing suits rather than clothes, which would be frowned upon during this time period. The inferred leader of the group of girls who is Queenie, is the girl that Sammy appears to have his eyes on throughout most of the story. Sammy notices that Queenie is wearing a dirty-pink bathing suit with the straps down to her shoulder, which lets Sammy know that either Queenie is trying to...
Words: 631 - Pages: 3
...stunned by the unusual break in tradition, as well as the ending with a twist. Sammy, the story’s main character and narrator, is represented as one who does not understand his own troubled life. He also despises others, who in so many words live a life of follow the leader. Ultimately, Sammy quits his job in protest of the unfair treatment of three girls, who have presumably violated the store’s dress code policy. It appears that this is an example where society is being too rigid and insensitive to the changing trends that our younger generations are ready to explore. Three young girls wearing bathing suits into a small town grocery store really caused a commotion amongst the store’s...
Words: 1168 - Pages: 5
...Xavian Arnold Dr. Patterson English 112 28 March 2012 A & P: An Analysis of the Character “Sammy” As people age, maturity and wisdom is gained through every experience. From the time a child turns eighteen and becomes an adult, they are required to deal with the realities of the real world and learn how to handle its responsibilities. In John Updike’s short story “A&P” the protagonist Sammy is a young man in 1961 New England who works in the town’s local grocery store. In a matter of a day, Updike goes from an immature boy with unrealistic ideas and fantasies, to a man who is about to realize how life altering the choices he makes can be. Sammy realizes that life isn’t always fair and that sometimes it involves the consequences that life can deal to anyone who has not had time to test a rash decision. Updike’s story illustrates that a part of growing up is a willingness to accept consequences of one’s choices, and that life's hardest lessons are sometimes learned a little too late. This story represents a coming-of-age for Sammy, as seen through his evaluations of the costumers as the story develops. Though it takes place over the period of a few minutes, it represents a much larger process of Sammy’s growth. From the time the girls enter the grocery store, to the moment they leave, you can see changes in Sammy. At first, he only notices the physical appearance of the girls: how they look and what they are wearing, seem to be his only thoughts. As the story...
Words: 1114 - Pages: 5
...Short Story – Cultural Analysis Group Names: __________________________________ Unhappily Ever After – Fractured Fairy Tales __________________________________ __________________________________ “A & P” by John Updike (1961) 1. Describe the narrator’s (Sammy’s) attitude toward women. List the words he uses to describe the young women. Then list the words he uses to describe the older women. * Young Women: * Words/Phrases: * Attitude: * Older Women: * Words/Phrases: * Attitude: 2. Describe the narrator’s (Sammy’s) attitude toward his job. List the words he uses to describe the store, Stokesie, and Lengel. * Store: * Stokesie: * Lengel: * Attitude: 3. Do you like the narrator or not? Explain. 4. Do you think the girls meant to cause trouble by entering the A & P in their swimsuits? What evidence is there to support your opinion? 5. Towards the end of the story Sammy quits his job. What statement is he trying to make? Does he succeed? 6. In the last line of the story Sammy says he now knows that the world will be hard for him from that point forward. Do you think he’s right about his unhappily ever after? What does he realize about the world of 1961 that makes him come to this conclusion? Short Story – Cultural Analysis Group Names: __________________________________ Unhappily Ever After – Fractured Fairy Tales __________________________________ ...
Words: 396 - Pages: 2
...Stylistic Analysis of ‘Everyone Worth Knowing’ NAME: April King STU ID: 1200015542 PHONE: 13******* EMAIL: 18********@QQ.COM Contents 1. Plot summary 3 2. book review 3 3. stylistic analysis 5 3.1 narrative technique 5 3.2 lexical level analysis 5 3.2.1 Extreme words and exaggerating words 3.2.2 Standard, common and concrete words 3.2.3 mind words 3.3 Semantic (or rhetorical) Analysis 5 3.3.1 Parallelism 3.3.2 contrast 3.3.3 repetition 3.3.4 paradox 3.3.5 irony 3.3.6 simile 3.3.7 synaesthesia 3.3.8 climax 3.3.8 imagery 3.4 syntactical 7 3.5 textual level analysis 7 3.5.1 writing techniques 3.5.1.1 fdt (Stream of conciousness) 3.5.1.2 fds and ds 3.5.1.3 Direct Characterization and Indirect Characterization 3.5.1.4 internal conflict 3.5.1.5 change of literary form 3.5.2 paragraph level analysis 4. referrence 9 Like The Devil Wears Prada, Everyone Worth Knowing is essentially a morality play in which an unglamorous young single woman is suddenly thrust into a glamorous New...
Words: 3704 - Pages: 15
...Kin Faat Chau (Lucas) Professor Gustafson ARLT 101 07/09/2013 Preface Compilation of this extract involved numerous connections of societal development realities whereby tangible sources that supported the document provided critical information, particularly on Los Angeles historical fundamentals. Civilization is the major aspect explored in this study; the supportive materials helped my writing with analogous information that clarified the encompassed perspectives of societal detrimental issues that indicates the need for improvement, as pointed out by Mennell (p. 2). I have to acknowledge these sources for laying a foundation that proved the societal view and responses towards creation of possible change through literacy basics in their perspective community based activities. Social and political class play critical role in shaping people’s life whereby in sometimes they can be destructive rather than constructive in the societies. The view of human nature as a basic reality received in diverse perspectives indicates the need for substantive measures in taking people’s consideration when the moral basics are involved. Formulation of substantial laws to provide governance prospects are areas that many of the authors relied on in this study have proved to require substantive corrections to guide the people who seem to encounter the hardships of accepting others, particularly with the illusive approaches on society well-being. In most cases, as seen in this study,...
Words: 4148 - Pages: 17
...A Good Man Is Hard To Find literary analysis Tracy Wooten Elizabeth Isenkul February 20, 2016 A good man is hard to find is short story written by Flannery O’ Connor. Throughout the entire story O’Connor utilizes irony as a literary element to create multiple facets of her characters in the story such as those of Bailey's mother and The Misfit. O'Connor establishes the foundation of the irony very early in the story when she gives us the reason for the grandmother getting dressed up for the car ride, “In case of an accident anyone seeing the dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady” (O’Connor, 1993) . Later on in the story this could considered foreshadowing. Throughout the entire story the grandmother judges people either as good or bad solely based on how they look. For example, the first time the reader sees the phrase "A good man is hard to find," the speaker is Red Sam at the roadside barbecue restaurant where the family is having lunch. Just before that, however, Red Sam has described his willingness to allow some strangers to charge gas, and he asks himself the question, "Now, why did I do that?" (O’Connor, 1993). The grandmother's immediate response is "Because you're a good man." (O’ Connor, 1993). She makes this assessment with very little information about Red Sam, not on the basis of any meaningful knowledge about his character. When the grandmother is first introduced to the misfit, she makes one of those same judgments of him because...
Words: 784 - Pages: 4
...Character Analysis “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” The grandmother is the central character in the story “A Good Man Is Hard To Find’, by Flannery O’Connor. The dysfunctional family is planning a trip to Florida, Bailey his wife, the baby, two children (boy and girl) the grandmother and a stowaway cat. Upon reading about the Misfit escaping from Federal Pen and are in Florida the grandmother tried to change their destination. The grandmother is a manipulative, deceitful, and self-serving woman who lives in the past era of the south. She has the same prejudice attitudes of that time. The grandmother’s untruthfulness while on the trip will cause certain doom for the family and her Christian faith would be put to the test. The grandmother tries desperately to change her family's vacation destination as she tries to manipulate her son into going to Tennessee instead of Florida. Her reasons for wanting to go Tennessee were to make connections with some of her peers. The grandmother was also concerned about the children seeing Tennessee since they had already been to Florida. “The children have been to Florida before,” the old lady said. ”You all ought to take them somewhere else for a change so they would see different parts of the world and be broad. They never have been east to Tennessee”. The children made comments to the grandmother “If you don’t want to go to Florida, why dontcha stay home?” The grandmother asked what you would do if the Misfit caught you. “I’d smack...
Words: 1599 - Pages: 7
...Analysis of Memento Leonard Shelby, the main character of the movie and former insurance claims investigator, began to suffer from anterograde amnesia after an injury to his brain while he was attempting to stop two intruders from raping and killing his wife in the bathroom in their home. He shoots and kills one of the murderers. He can remember memories before and during the incident, although he can not make new memories. His life mission thenceforth is to avenge his wife's brutal death by locating and killing the second perpetrator. He overcomes memory limitations by writing important details on his body with ink, writing notes on paper, and taking Polaroid pictures of people and locations. The movie begins with Leonard shooting Teddy in reverse order. Leonard stays at a local hotel, where the phone rings repeatedly. He picks up the phone and is greeted by someone who claims to be a cop, and who has a lead on John G. Leonard takes a picture and writes “Teddy” on it, following the undercover cops suggestion. Teddy drives Leonard to a warehouse and tells him that John G. will be arriving soon. The man who shows up is named John G., but it's not the person who raped and killed his wife. Leonard kills him nevertheless and takes his car and suit. A note in a suit-pocket reads “Meet me after.” Leonard meets a bartender named Natalie at the bar she works at. While staying at her house, Leonard discovers that she is helping him because she has lost someone also. The...
Words: 674 - Pages: 3
