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The catcher in the rye summary essay
What's your understanding of the catcher in the rye
What's your understanding of the catcher in the rye
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John Updike’s short story, “A&P”, demonstrates rebellion against the constructs of suburban 1950s society. Three teenage girls create chaos by exposing themselves which leads to a transformation in the narrator. Updike offers power to the three girls, in particular, to motivate a reaction in others and exemplify them as marginalized. Lengel, the manager, is a static character. He works to maintain the status quo and dictates for others standards of behavior that he deems acceptable because he is in a position of authority and benefits from maintaining it. As for the trio, their rejection of prescribed acceptability represents a teenager’s desire for autonomy. Updike presents a society where woman must adhere to the social constructs and when …show more content…
At the beginning of the story, Sammy is portrayed to be the archetypal 19 year old male sexist, who perceives the three girls in a condescending demeanor. Not only does Sammy discriminate and objectify the trio, but attacks the female population as a whole: “You never know for sure how girls’ minds work (do you really think it’s a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glassjar?)” (Updike). Sammy’s condemnatory comments concerning the girls and the female community convey that he is involved with the patriarchal system and he is undoubtedly a misogynist. His misogynistic commentary is exhibited through his sexual objectifications of the girls and female populace. Sammy’s objectifying remarks regarding the physical appearances of the three girls and other innocent customers, who are solely strangers to him, portray Sammy to be both a judgmental and immature teenager: This is a harsh— though poetic—judgment, and some of his judgments are even unfair (for example, when he calls the elderly man with the four cans of pineapple juice an “old bum”), but the harshness, as Emerson noted, is mainly teenaged exaggerationese growing out of the typical tendency to make blanket judgments hastily and to place all individuals in their nearest category. …show more content…
His daily routine consists of him checking out the “sheep” at the register and watching them walk out contentedly into the real world. His grating and disparaging interpretations come from his lack of experience because he has been insulated from the rest of the world by the doors of the A&P. From the time these three girls walked into the local supermarket, Sammy criticizes and observes everything from their body weight and female features to their social status: “She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and 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” (Updike). His verbal commentary and callow actions toward the three girls characterize Sammy to be a male chauvinist. He views the girls as sexual objects rather than complex human beings with much more to offer than just their physical attributes. Sammy unintentionally identifies himself to be a juvenile teenager who is exceedingly concerned with the somatic aspects of the three girls, especially Queenie: “Though certainly there is an element of physical attraction in Sammy's response to Queenie, mainly his appreciation is aesthetic” (Porter). Sammy is distracted by Queenie’s beauty and continuously observes her every movement and gesture when in the A&P. The arrival of the three girls in a
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 begins the story by describing the three girls in bathing suits who have walked into the A & P grocery store. The girl who catches his attention is a chunky girl in a plaid green two-piece swimsuit. As Sammy continues to observe the girls, his interest seems to focus only on the girl who leads the other two into the store. Sammy refers to the girl he likes as "Queenie",someone showing poise and leadership, while the other girls seem to just tag along like a herd of sheep. Being distracted by the unusual event, he forgets what he's doing, as his customer, an elderly lady with heavy red make-up on her lips and cheeks, gets frustrated and starts to correct Sammy's inattentive service. The story elaborates on how Sammy is very observant, and we begin to understand his perspectives on events he appreciates versus those he doesn't. Sammy further describes the girls, saying to himself "You never know for sure how girls' minds work (do you really think it's a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?) you get the idea she had talked the other two into coming in here with her, and now she was showing them how to do it, walk slow and hold yourself straight."(16). Sammy believes that the other two girls are willing to tag along with "Queenie" because she talked them into going, pointing out they just like anything and everything that "Queenie" likes for the sake of being cool, and once the interest in somethin...
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
As they go about their errands, Sammy observes the reactions, of the other customers, to this trio of young women. He uses the word "Sheep" to describe the store regulars, as they seem to follow one and other, in their actions and reactions. The girls, however, appear to be unique in all aspects of their beings: walking, down the isles, against the grain, going barefoot and in swim suits, amongst the properly attired clientele. They are different, and this is what catches and holds Sammy's attention. He sees them in such detail, that he can even see the queen of the bunch.
... In?A & P? John Updike tells the story of a man faced with two choices for his life in a seemingly unimportant circumstance. He can stand up for himself and for his rules, as his manager encourages him to do so. But as the story goes, he remains oblivious to the forces at work, and decides to bend his will to three girls in bathing suits, or more generally, to those who have the power and nobility of wealth behind them.
A reader can tell that Sammy likes the main girl that he gives the nickname “Queenie” to. He thinks that she is the leader of the girls and also that she is the prettiest. The way that Sammy thinks about these girls really puts the story into perspective. A person would think that a few girls going into a grocery store to grab some snacks is just a part of life, but to hear it in the words of Sammy, it seems quite fascinating. At one point a reader might think of Sammy as sexist, because in his own words, “You never know for sure how girls’ minds work (do you really think it’s a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?)[…] (370). All in all, this is just the way that Sammy’s’ mind works; it is how he thinks about people. This is what makes it be known that he a younger man not from the current
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...
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. ...
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.
Lengel, the manager of the store, spots the girls and gives them a hard time about their dress in the store. He tells them, “Girls, this isn’t the beach.” He says that they are not dressed appropriately to come into this grocery store. Lengel’s words cause Queenie to get embarrassed and start to blush. Sammy cannot believe this and gets frustrated at his boss. He doesn’t believe that it is right to prosecute these innocent girls for the way they are dressed. He also states at this point that the sheep are piling up over in Stokesie line trying to avoid all the commotion the scene has caused. I believe Sammy takes this as the last straw in a long string of aggravations.
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.
I quit! These words can be attached to so many things in life. At times in life things seem to be different then they really are, for instance the thrill and the excitement of having a summer job or even successfully getting a first job. There are certain moments in a person’s life that will always have an impact on them one could call this a definitive moment or an epiphany. In the short story A&P by John Updike the main character Sammy has an epiphany in that he realizes that a moral line has been crossed in his working environment.
Sammy worked a typical boring job and what seemed to be in a typical small town. The only person in the store he really related to was Stokesie, which is the foil to Sammy, because Stokesie is married, has kids and eventually wanted to be manger one day. Something Sammy did not want to stick around and see. The customers in the store were all pretty much the same, in which Sammy did not show much emotion towards except he referred to them as “the sheep pushing their carts down the aisle” (Updike 261). It is easy to tell Sammy did not like his job, but it also seemed he had no other option, as if he was stuck in his small town and there was no way out. Then out of the blue he saw three girls wearing only their bathing suites walk in the store. Sammy noticed something different about them, like they were liberated from the conservative values of those times; they were part of a new generation. Especially Queenie, he referred to...
In the story A&P, we know as the story begins, Sammy is employed at A&P. He is ringing a older lady, who he describes as a "witch", groceries up. While Sammy is occupied, in walks three girls, wearing bathing suits, who catch Sammy's eye. Their attire is against the stores policy, which is not enforced, until the manager approaches them. Once the manager approaches them, we later read that Sammy quits his job. Following his first announce in him quitting, he says, "You didn't have to embarrass them" (152), which let us know, he felt the girls were embarrassed. Sammy's main point for quitting his job at A&P, in his and my opinion, is to be an "unsuspected hero" (152).
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.