Short Story Analysis: "A & P"

1130 Words3 Pages

Short stories are pieces of high creativity that develop their themes and plot in a short way. The writers of short stories are usually faced by the challenge of limited time and space. In the pursuit of achieving the explicit expression of the plot development and themes, the short story writers can opt to assume some details, ignore some details completely or better still, use styles of literature to express themselves (Ford, Para 1). Because short stories can elude the real life situations, time span, human beings traits, and entire life, they can show their audacity and daring in literature, but not necessary that of their writers. Admittedly, short stories can elude the real life situations from which they are developed (Ford Para 1). Usually, this happens due to their challenges in time and space. It is obvious that short story writers have to develop a plot as well as various themes based on real life situations. At the same time, it can be argued that the real life scenario itself, presents countless numbers of dynamisms, which cannot be fully detailed in the space of a short story. Therefore, the writers of short stories ignore most of the real life scenarios and pick on some. In the short story “A & P”, the writer could have eluded on some real, life situations in the plot development and detailing of the scenarios. The writer of “A & P” has used the first person narrative style. In so doing, this short story only expresses the scenarios the way the writer perceived them, and his imaginations. For instance, when the loosely dressed ladies enter the grocery (Updike para 1), there could have been some other people in the surrounding, each with a different kind of reaction. The writer has also deliberately failed... ... middle of paper ... ...as he confronts the ladies. Although this can be questioned to have been a controversy in the age gap and other social-cultural issues in lifestyles and trends of the real life situation, yet the writer by bringing this episode, uses contrast as a literature device to develop a scenario that would have require a lot more space and time to develop. This is a characteristic of short stories, where writers use few words and define situations to represent a whole real life situation. Therefore, it would be wrong to associate the writer with his work of a short story directly. Works Cited Ford, Richard . "High-wire performers." theguardian. N.p., 03 Nov. 2007. Web. 22 Sept. 2011. . Updike, John . "A&P." tiger-town. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2011. .

Show More
Related

  • What You Pawn I Will Redeem by Sherman Alexie

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Unit 2: Reading & Writing About Short Fiction." ENGL200: Composition and Literature. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 49-219. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In John Updike's A & P

    439 Words  | 1 Pages

    “A&P” is a short story by John Updike about a nineteen-year-old male named Sammy. Sammy lives in a small town five miles from the beach and works at a grocery store called A&P. Throughout the story Sammy reveals signs of agitation at his job. Things begin to change as he gazed his eyes on three girls that walk into the store. The A&P and the girls are important symbols in “A&P” that help reveal the conflict in the story.

    Read More

  • Be Your Own Person In John Updike's A & P

    801 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is an unwritten set of rules that dictate what is and is not socially acceptable. The theme of “A & P” by John Updike is to be your own person. Updike uses setting, symbolism, and point of view to establish this theme.

    Read More

  • Thank You M'am, by Langston Hughes and The Storyteller, by H.H. Munro (Saki)

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    Short stories are temporary portals to another world; there is a plethora of knowledge to learn from the scenario, and lies on top of that knowledge are simple morals. Langston Hughes writes in “Thank You Ma’m” the timeline of a single night in a slum neighborhood of an anonymous city. This “timeline” tells of the unfolding generosities that begin when a teenage boy fails an attempted robbery of Mrs. Jones. An annoyed bachelor on a British train listens to three children their aunt converse rather obnoxiously in Saki’s tale, “The Storyteller”. After a failed story attempt, the bachelor tries his hand at storytelling and gives a wonderfully satisfying, inappropriate story. These stories are laden with humor, but have, like all other stories, an underlying theme. Both themes of these stories are “implied,” and provide an excellent stage to compare and contrast a story on.

    Read More

  • The American Dream In F. Scott Fitzgerald's Winter Dreams

    1955 Words  | 4 Pages

    Pike, Gerald. “Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Short Fiction Writers.” Short Story Criticism. Ed. Thomas Votteler. Vol. 6. Detroit: Gale Research International Limited, 1990. 90. Print.

    Read More

  • Colloquial Language In John Updike's A & P

    434 Words  | 1 Pages

    In, “A&P,” Updike depicts an unusual day for Sammy working in the A&P store. Sammy’s days are usually mundane but his day is changed when a group of scantily dressed girls walk into the store and they leave an everlasting influence on his life. Updike’s demonstrates these events through colloquial language and symbolism, allowing the reader to connect with Sammy and see his growth as a character.

    Read More

  • Sammy in Updike's A&P

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    The main character in John Updike's short story “A&P” is Sammy. The story's first-person context gives the reader a unique insight toward the main character's own feelings and choices, as well as the reasons for the choices. The reader is allowed to closely observe Sammy's observations and first impressions of the three girls who come to the grocery store on a summer afternoon in the early 1960s. In order to understand this short story, one must first recognize the social climate of the era, the age of the main character, and the temptation this individual faces.

    Read More

  • John Updike's A&P

    906 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Updike's short story, "A&P" is fictional in a sense that it has a common pattern that leads the reader through a series of events. These events began when three young ladies in bathing suits walk in A&P, and catch the eye of a young man named, Sammy. He seems to favor the chunkier girl of the three that walk in to the store.

    Read More

  • John Updike A & P Analysis

    1015 Words  | 3 Pages

    Updike, John. "A&P." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.1026-1030.

    Read More

  • Importance of Setting in The Cask of Amontillado and Hills Like White Elephants

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    Short stories have particular settings to supplement their themes. The eerie catacombs during a carnival in “The Cask of Amontillado” supplement the themes of revenge, and deception, which the protagonist takes responsibility in; whereas in “Hills Like White Elephants”, the atmosphere around the Spanish train station emphasizes the themes of miscommunication between characters and their evasion of responsibilities.

    Read More

  • Comparing Girl by Jamaica Kincaid and A&P by John Updike

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    Within every story or poem, there is always an interpretation made by the reader, whether right or wrong. In doing so, one must thoughtfully analyze all aspects of the story in order to make the most accurate assessment based on the literary elements the author has used. Compared and contrasted within the two short stories, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, and John Updike’s “A&P,” the literary elements character and theme are made evident. These two elements are prominent in each of the differing stories yet similarities are found through each by studying the elements. The girls’ innocence and naivety as characters act as passages to show something superior, oppression in society shown towards women that is not equally shown towards men.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis of John Updike's A&P

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Updike's A&P provides numerous perspectives for critical interpretation. His descriptive metaphors and underlying sexual tones are just the tip of the iceberg. A gender analysis could be drawn from the initial outline of the story and Sammy's chauvinism towards the female. Further reading opens up a formalist and biographical perspective to the critic. After several readings I began seeing the Marxist perspective on the surreal environment of A&P. The economic and social differences are evident through Sammy's storytelling techniques and even further open up a biographical look at Updike's own view's and opinions. According to an essay posted on the internet Updike was a womanizer in his own era and displayed boyish immaturity into his adulthood. A second analysis of this story roots more from a reader-response/formalist view. Although Sammy centered his dramatization around three young females, more specifically the Queen of the trio, it was a poignant detailed head to toe description of scene. I'll touch on that later.

    Read More

  • Character Consciousness Anne Enright's Yesterday's Weather”

    1257 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wilson, M. & Clark, R. (n.d.). Analyzing the Short Story. [online] Retrieved from: https://www.limcollege.edu/Analyzing_the_Short_Story.pdf [Accessed: 12 Apr 2014].

    Read More

  • Modernism: Hills Like White Elephants, by Ernest Hemingway

    1592 Words  | 4 Pages

    Some of the characteristics of Modernism are: a desire to break conventions and established traditions, reject history, experiment, remove relativity, remove any literal meaning, and create an identity that is fluid. The rejection of history sought to provide a narrative that could be completely up for interpretation. Any literal meaning no longer existed nor was it easily given; essence became synonymous. Narrative was transformed. Epic stories, like “Hills Like White Elephants”, could occur in the sequence of a day. Stories became pushed by a flow of thoughts. The narrative became skeptical of linear plots, preferring to function in fragments. These fragments often led to open unresolved inconclusive endings. This echoes in the short story’s format. The short story functions in fragmented dialogue. Focusing on subjectivity rather than objectivity. Creating characters with unfixed, mixed views to challenge readers.

    Read More

  • Essay on the Selfish Mrs. Mallard in Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour

    998 Words  | 2 Pages

    Magill, Frank N., ed. Critical Survey of Short Fiction. Revised ed. Vol. 2. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1993. 7 vols.

    Read More

More about Short Story Analysis: "A & P"

Open Document