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Gender roles in 20th century literature
Essay on gender roles in literature
Gender roles in Literature
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Out of all the short stories, there was a specific reason on why I chose this story and this character. Well, that reason is because I had a true connection with both, but mainly with the character I have chosen. Throughout this story, Sammy shows a lot of characteristics that I had as a teenager. Therefore, I feel that I can relate to him on a level that will help me explain the reasons for his actions. Now, let’s take a look at this whole situation before it even gets to the part where the story begins. Now, I don’t know this for sure but from the looks of it, Sammy hasn’t had many run ins with the opposite sex. Why I say this? Simply because of the way he behaved when he was around them in the store. His actions spoke volumes. So, that leaves me believe that Sammy is probably not the most social guy. Which is why he is so observant and sarcastic, because alt of the things he would say, he keeps in his head. Also, the actual description of Sammy isn’t provided in the story, but if I had to describe him I would say he stands at about 5’9, skinny, pimpled face, and braces. This is the way I feel he would look, as someone who is very insecure about themselves and doesn’t know how to talk …show more content…
Stokesie was snooping around taking glimpses at the girls as well. He even approached Sammy joking and being perverted about the girls. Sammy didn’t necessarily take a liking to this judging that Stokesie is a few years older than him and also married and has two children. Yet, it didn’t technically make Sammy stop looking at the girls and coming up with nicknames for them. Yet again, I blame Sammy’s immaturity on not getting that much attention from girls in the past, so when he saw the slightest opportunity, he didn’t know how to act. Once again you have to come to terms that Sammy doesn’t do this to be “weird” or anything. It’s just a natural reaction when he sees them in the
But life is not a fairytale. Standing there lonely, having no job is our Sammy. This is when Sam realizes his path, the true way to become mature. The moment when “Lengel sighs and begins to look very patient:” Sammy, you don’t want to do this to your mom and dad” (Updike) hold him back a little bit, we can feel the regret in his heart. But he cannot go back anymore, decision has been made. He gives up his last chance; from now on, he’s on his own. Sammy finally understands that it is responsible behavior but not playing “adult-like” game that will make him a true
While it's true that Sammy finds the three scantily-clad girls who enter the supermarket attractive, as would any normal nineteen-year-old male, what is most notable about his descriptions of the girls, and particularly of the "leader" of the group, is that Sammy holds them in contempt. Once we get beyond the descriptions of their bodies, we see nothing but derogatory comments directed at them, including the derisive nicknames that Sammy assigns to them. Nowhere is this more evident than in Sammy's description of the leader, "Queenie." The nickname assigned to her by Sammy points out the stereotypical snap judgment that Sammy makes about her personality and social status initially, and to which Sammy rigidly adheres despite no real evidence of its accuracy. From the description of her "prima donna" legs, to his imagining of ...
Sammy's feelings for Queenie changes when he hears her voice. Her voice is normal and he has built this romantic image of her in his mind. Hearing her voice and realizing she is a normal person, (that happens to be wealthy) slightly changes his feelings for her. It brings him back to reality a little. “Her voice kind of startled me, the way voices do when you see the people first, coming out so flat and dumb yet kind of tony, too, the way it ticked over "pick up" and "snacks." All of a sudden I slid right down her voice into her living room.” Sammy feels as if he has no chance to get noticed by her unless he does something out of the ordinary. So after she is done arguing with Lengel, Sammy decides to stand up for her and quit his job in hopes that she will notice him.
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
He leaves, with a clean consciousness, but the burden of not knowing what the future has in store. 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 wear, seem to be his only observations.
He doesn't think maturely and he has a teenager's mind. Sammy is selfish because he only cares about what he thinks. However, he disagrees with his boss, and Sammy ends up quitting his job which was not very smart. Sammy upholds the three girls and their negative actions. In addition, Sammy does not even get any of the girls.
Sammy is clearly intelligent, although still uneducated at nineteen, and capable of creating striking images, such as calling a girl’s hair “oaky” and describing the sunlight as “skating around” the parking lot. He is opinionated, sarcastic, disaffected teenager with a healthy interest in the opposite sex and a keen observational sense. Sammy thought of his community boring with nothing to do. He sees most adults as "sheep" or followers “sheep pushing their carts down the aisle”, all indistinguishable from one another, and symbolizes every costumer. Sammy shows no interest in his job what so ever, he demonstrates that when he says he made up a song with the cash register sounds “hello (bing) there, you (gung)hap-py pee-pul (splat)”(Updike) Since he doesn't enjoy his job he looks for something to do, he is the kind of teenager who notices everything around him. One day at the store three girls walk in with nothing but their bathing suits he didn't hesitate to start analyzing them. He drinks
From the beginning of the story, it is clear that Sammy in no way likes his job, nor is he fond of the customers and people he is surrounded by each day. To Sammy, they are nothing more than "sheep" going through the motions of life. "I bet you could set off dynamite in an A&P and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their lists and muttering Let me see, there was a third thing, began with A, asparagus, no, ah, yes, applesauce!' or whatever it was they do mutter." (Updike, 693). He view them negatively; to him they are boring and useless, living mundane and unimportant lives and it's obvious through Sammy's portrayal of them that he doesn't want to ever become one of them, nor does he want to be around them any longer.
Sammy is a 19-year-old boy conveying a cocky but cute male attitude. He describes three girls entering the A & P, setting the tone of the story. "In walk these three girls in nothing but bathing suits. There was this chunky one, with the two piece-it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale...there was this one, with one of those chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose, this one, and a tall one, with black hair that hadn't quite frizzed righ...
How would this girl feel if she knew just how intensely this guy was scoping her out? Or better yet, how would you feel if someone’s eyes were glued to your backside when you were grocery shopping? That behavior, no matter what she was wearing, is totally unacceptable especially in a grocery store. Is Sammy at fault for not having any self control? It might be acceptable for this nineteen-year-old guy to check out a girl in her bathing suit; however, that would not have excused old McMahon, the deli guy, who patted his mouth and "sized up their joints" as the girls walked away from the counter (Updike 1027).
At the beginning of A&P, Sammy notices that three girls have walked into the store with only there bathing suits on. At first, poor Sammy cannot see the girls because he was at register 3 with his back toward the door. When they finally get into his sight, he immediately size the girls up. "The one that caught my eye first was the one in the placid green two-piece. She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs." He also gives a description of the other two girls. He says one has "a chubby berry-faces, her lips all bunched together under her nose and the tall one, with black hair that hadn't quite frizzed right, and one of these sunburns right across under the eyes and a chin that was too long--you know, the kind of girl other girls think is very "striking" and "attractive" but never quite makes it, as they very well know, which is why they like her so much." This comments illustrate his immaturity. Sammy refers to one of the girls as queen. He calls her queen because she seems to be the leader. ...
Sammy is a product of his generation. In the 1960s the social climate was changing. The new ideas of the youth were taking over the traditions of their parents. Music and the drug culture began to change the perspective as more people were listening to rock and roll music and experimenting with mind-altering drugs in an effort to free themselves from the strict societal demands of the 1950s. Sammy demonstrates this as he describes his work uniform - the bow tie and apron. This can also be observed when Sammy's manager, Le...
He criticizes his family and their background when he says, “when my parents have somebody over they get lemonade and if it’s a real racy affair, Schlitz in tall glasses with ‘They’ll do it every time’ cartoons stenciled on.” Sammy desires to move from a blue collar to a white collar family to differentiate him from his family. He shows his growing maturity when he says, “the girls who’d blame them, are in a hurry to get out, so I say ‘I quit’ to Lengal quick enough for them to hear, hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero.” He wants to be noticed by the girls for his selfless act of quitting his job for them. His plan does not work though, and the girls leave him to face Lengal alone. Lengal confronts Sammy and says, “Sammy, you don’t want to do this to your mom and dad.” Sammy ponders Lengal’s comment and thinks to himself, “It’s true, I don’t. But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture it’s fatal not to go through with it.” Sammy has begun to reach maturity and now wants to make his own decisions concerning his future and how he spends
Sammy in “A & P” by John Updike is a developed typical teenage boy, who goes through many changes throughout the duration of the story. It all started when he saw three girls walk in the store about his own age wearing only their bathing suites, it flattered him. It caused Sammy do a lot of thinking throughout the event. He did not like his job and he expressed his opinions throughout the story. As Sammy was seeing the three girls, he analyzed everything around him, from the girls, his town, and to the customer and employees in the store. When he watched the girls walk around the store with their heads held high. Sammy the round and dynamic character he is, started to face many challenges in which he had to decide how he wanted his life turn out, rather by staying or moving on to bigger and better things.
Now that Sammy has chosen to become a juvenile delinquent, he realizes "how hard the world was going to be" for him in the future. He has left a life of safety and direction for one of the complete opposite, and he must be willing to accept the responsibilities of his actions, no matter the consequences.