Compare And Contrast Paul's Case And A & P

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Adolescence Despite parental efforts to control children, teenage rebellion proves as an unavoidable staple in individuals' maturation. For some, this rebellion proves brief; for others it results in devastation. Regardless, this necessary and natural process often includes defiance of societal expectation in addition to domestic contradiction. Society's typical rejection of teenage rebellion destroys innocence, disturbs peace, and often inhibits social progress. Both Willa Cather’s and John Updike’s early life experiences in discovering their identities reflect in their short stories, “Paul’s Case” and the “A&P”. Born into a strict family, Willa Cather could express the harsh expectations of teenagers through her protagonist, Paul. Willa …show more content…

Sammy’s experiences with the everday shoppers, describing them as “sheep pushing their carts down the aisle” along with the store “having bags of peat moss and aluminum lawn furniture stacked on the pavement”, exemplifies societies orderly fasion where everything remains the same. However, his mundane lifestyle immediately shifts when the three women enter the A&P, showing “the contrast between the usual customers at the A&P and these girls” (McFarland). Sammy represents a typical teenager stuck in a monotonous daily existence who allows himself to embrace rather than reject the teenagers who prove “different” or “progressive”. Sammy’s innocent description of the “long white prima donna legs” gives insight into his “youthful and unromantic descriptive powers” (Mcfarland). When approched for their lack of clothing, Sammy stands up for the girls and quits his job, in an attempt “to not only try to change his own love life, but also the “traditional” perspective” (McFarland). Although appearing heroic, his gesture reflects his selfish impulses to impress the girls. By using his “youthful and unromantic” charachteristics, he loses his job, and the attention of the

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  • Conformity In John Updike's A & P

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    Sammy’s point of view of conformity changes from passive to active which shows the growth of his character. Updike chooses a 19-year-old teenager as the first narrator. As a teenager, Sammy’s personal value is still developing and he is not fully shaped by the conformity, which suggests his quitting later in the story. Although Sammy’s perspective is unreliable since his thoughts are limited by his age, he gives readers a naiver perspective of the society. He simply considers the customers as “sheep” or followers when he works in A&P, such as: “The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle” (748). However, before he saw the girls, he was part of the conformity. He silently mocks the people being conservative, but does not show any rebuke against

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  • An Analysis of John Updike's A&P

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    This story represents a coming-of-age for Sammy.  Though it takes place over the period of a few minutes, it represents a much larger process of maturation.  From the time the girls enter the grocery store, to the moment they leave, you can see changes in Sammy.  At first, he sees only the physicality of the girls:  how they look and what they are wearing, seem to be his only observations.  As the story progresses, he notices the interactions between the girls, and he even determines the hierarchy of the small dynamic.  He observes their actions and how they affect the other patrons of the business.  Rather, how the other people view the girl's actions.  His thought process is maturing and he starts to see things as an adult might see them.

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  • John Updike’s A & P, Richard Wright’s The Man Who Was Almost a Man, and James Joyce’s Araby

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  • An Analysis of John Updike's A&P

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  • John Updike Irony

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  • Sammy: A Follower or a Leader

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    Starting from the beginning, John Updike shows us Sammy’s simple life in a small town and a future that is not very promising , with a job in the only supermarket from region in a quiet day when is “nothing much to do except lean on the register and wait for the girls to show up again. The whole store was like a pinball machine” (Updike 19), that is not offering many opportunities instead of him going to college as many of his fellow friends did.

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  • Use Of Setting And Point Of View In John Updike's A & P

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is important to realize that Sammy’s 19-year old depiction of his surroundings might be skewed, but the story still maintains Updike’s basic use of this setting. Updike choses the dull setting of an A&P grocery store as a symbol, a microcosmic example of the societies tendency to conform. Also, the readers can easily relate to a grocery store. This A&P resides in a town where “the women generally put on shirt or shorts or something before they get out of their car into the street,” Sammy explains. Seeing a girl walking around wearing only a bikini in such a public place looks outrageous. “If you stand at our front doors you can see two banks and the Congregational church and the newspaper store…” The town is a conventional one. Updike turns this familiar, mundane piece of American life, and makes it extraordinary.

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  • The Theme Of Growth In A & P And James Joyce's Araby

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    The boy inevitably understands the futility of his actions, as if the entire world was acting against his efforts to impress the girl he was obsessed with; his determination is suppressed after making it so far and failing at the final step of his mission. The inciting hope that the conversation gave him combined with the obstacles he had to overcome only made his failure all the more bitter, but this harsh failure is the turning point that the boy needed in order to escape the childish and naive infatuation that he was experiencing. Failure was the lesson that made him understand that his love will remain unrequited, a realization that is the prerequisite for his maturity. In a similar fashion, John Updike’s A&P portrays the mundane life of a cashier named Sammy who works in a grocery store called A&P. Sammy observes the people around him — customers and fellow employees — and refers to them as “sheep” because of their conformity to society. The story begins as three girls clad in bikinis walk into the store; they instantly stand out and catch his

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  • Social Class in A & P by John Updike

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    As the student develops his essay, Sammy begins to compare the girls to other customers in the store. From “houseslaves in pin curlers” to “an old party in baggy gray pants” (2192 ), Sammy negatively characterizes customers in contrast to the leader of the girls, Queenie. To Sammy, the girl is someone that is not from their town. She is everything that every girl envies and wants to be. In contrast to Sammy, she will spend her summer vacationing while he spends it working. It is clear to Sammy that their worlds are different, however it is also obvious that he would like to explore hers.

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  • John Updike's "A&P"

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    The story begins as if it is any mundane workday at the A&P. Sammy is a typical teen, making sarcastic comparisons of the customers in the grocery store. He calls one of his customers a "witch" and says the other customers are "house slaves" and "sheep." Sammy obviously dislikes the job, but finds ways of passing the day. However, from the moment the three girls enter the A&P to their exit from the store, you can see dramatic changes in Sammy. Sammy lusts for the young girls, and nicknames the most attractive to him as “Queenie”. The young girls dressed in bathing suits fascinate him, and although he is staring at them excessively, he negatively comments on the others for doing the same. As the girls walk past the older employee, McMahon, Sammy notices how he ogled the girls and pats his mouth. Sammy appears disgusted by his gesture and begins to sympathize for the girls. “Poor kids, I began to feel sorry for them, they couldn’t help it" (Upd...

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  • Sammy and the Setting in John Updike's "A&P"

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    Before the girls enter the store, Sammy is unaware that the setting he is so judgmental of reflects his own life. Sammy feels that he is better than the rest of people at the A&P, referring to them as "sheep" and "house-slaves" because they never break from their daily routines. He also condescendingly talks about "whatever it is they[the customers]...mutter." Reinforcing his superiority above the people in the store, Sammy sees himself as a person that can seldom be "trip[ped]...up." Although he sees himself being superior to the store, the reality is that the store closely reflects Sammy's life. He seems to have a long-term commitment to the store since his apron has his name stitched on it, and he has been working at the store long enough to have memorized the entire contents of the "cat-and-dog-food-breakfast-cereal-macaroni-rice-raisins-seasonings-spreads-spaghetti-soft drinks-crackers-and-cookies." His day is also filled with the routine of working at the register, a routine that is so familiar that he has created a cash register song. Sammy also identifies with his co-worker Stokesie, "the responsible married man," and therefore wishes to someday be the manager of the store, like Lengel. Even the "checkerboard" floor represents a game of checkers, a simple one-directional game that closely models Sammy's life. Although Sammy is nineteen ...

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  • Through the Eyes of a Teenager in A & P, A Short Story by John Updike

    1105 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sammy is just the normal average teenage boy that works at his town’s local A&P store. From the beginning of the story we are able to see that Sammy is very opinionated, sarcastic, and has a keen observational sense with lends insight into the deeper meaning of the story. While Sammy contently describes everything around him, we are able to get a feel for how he sees the world and how he thinks about things. Most of the story Sammy is found describing three girls that enter his store. Immediately we can see Sammy’s intense fascinations about these random three girls, thinking he’s just being a regular teenage boy. Sammy, however, goes beyond the surface details to glean insights about the people he observes. One of the girls he studies a little more intently, becoming fascinated by her. He points out how, “ She was the Queen,” (Updike 19), and how she naturally seemed to lead and catch anyone’s attention in an instant. What got him the most was the dangling bathing suit straps. Obviously this intrigued Sammy in a very sensual way, but they are also clues that he uses to construct an image of her inner life. Once he hears all of the girls speak, his imagination begins to spark about the girls, as he is...

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