In the story A&P, John Updike shows how the main character, a teenage clerk named Sammy, allows his emotions to get the best of him. After seeing a group of teenage girls become embarrassed by his boss, Mr. Lengel, Sammy ceremoniously embarks on a self-righteous bout to show how Mr. Lengel's mistreatment and attack of the innocent girls' dignity was unjust. However, he realized his attempt was futile when he notices that the girls left before they could witness his gesture. In the end, Sammy's pride, self-righteousness, and his desire to defend another individual's dignity, only led to his termination of employment at the grocery store. John Updike uses Sammy's character and the setting to convey the theme, which is that pride will sometimes leave you in a situation worse off than you were before.
The first element used is Sammy's character. Sammy's character is ideal for the story because of his young age. Individuals who are young in age typically have a stereotype, for the......
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Approximate Word Count: 685
Approximate Pages: 3 (260 words per double-spaced page) |