Coming of Age
Everyone comes to a point in life when they must let go of their young shallow childhood selves and become mature critical thinking adults. When coming of age it is important that we figure out what things we morally stand for, as well as our limitations. In John Updike’s short story, “A & P” he creates a coming of age story that is relatable to any reader. He depicts the main character as an average teenager who is working in a supermarket looking at girls wearing bathing suits in the store while on the clock, but his characterization is much more meaningful to the story than that. The use of characterization throughout the story aids in developing the underlying themes …show more content…
Through the use of characterization Updike was able to develop the main character, Sammy, from seeing the world in a small-minded manner to seeing the world from a critical lense. In the beginning of the short story Sammy came off as a ordinary young boy working as a cashier to make ends meet. On the job when the girls with the bathing suits first walk in he is critiquing their physiques because they are walking around in the supermarket with bathing suits on. For the first half of the story Sammie talks about these girls and just about describes everything about their physical. He says things like, “there was this chunky one, with a two piece—it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pale.” In the beginning of the short story he analyzes the girls from head to toe. He has a critique about anything and everything that the girls are wearing. This leads the reader to believe that he has a immature and shallow view of the world as well as women. As the story progresses and he notices other …show more content…
The setting of the story is in the A & P supermarket. Everyone can relate to shopping somewhere with many different people and seeing plenty of things that they may think are out of place. In the supermarket there are people of all different age ranges and economic statuses. The supermarket is the perfect platform to let this story unravel because everyone is all on equal levels inside of the supermarket. Although everyone is all on equal playing fields in this setting the same things that differentiate them are still noticeable and cause conflict leading to the establishment of the themes mentioned above. Things like generational discrimination and socioeconomics were able to be shown in this setting based on the things people were buying food for as well as the grim looks they were giving to the group of girls. The tone of the short story was very impersonal and told from a first person point of view. This helps to make the reader feel as if they are a friend of the narrator, which makes it easier for readers to identify with some things going on relating it to their life experience. The narrator does a good job of talking in a very descriptive manner to make the reader feel as if they are in the supermarket with him visualizing everything that he sees. Through the use of repetition in the tone the narrator expresses things that are important that allude to the theme.
Everyone comes to a point in life when they must let go of their young shallow childhood selves and become mature critical thinking adults. When coming of age it is important that we figure out what things we morally stand for, as well as our limitations. In John Updike’s short story, “A & P” he creates a coming of age story that is relatable to any reader. He depicts the main character as an average teenager who is working in a supermarket looking at girls wearing bathing suits in the store while on the clock, but his characterization is much more meaningful to the story than that. The use of characterization throughout the story aids in developing the underlying themes …show more content…
Through the use of characterization Updike was able to develop the main character, Sammy, from seeing the world in a small-minded manner to seeing the world from a critical lense. In the beginning of the short story Sammy came off as a ordinary young boy working as a cashier to make ends meet. On the job when the girls with the bathing suits first walk in he is critiquing their physiques because they are walking around in the supermarket with bathing suits on. For the first half of the story Sammie talks about these girls and just about describes everything about their physical. He says things like, “there was this chunky one, with a two piece—it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pale.” In the beginning of the short story he analyzes the girls from head to toe. He has a critique about anything and everything that the girls are wearing. This leads the reader to believe that he has a immature and shallow view of the world as well as women. As the story progresses and he notices other …show more content…
The setting of the story is in the A & P supermarket. Everyone can relate to shopping somewhere with many different people and seeing plenty of things that they may think are out of place. In the supermarket there are people of all different age ranges and economic statuses. The supermarket is the perfect platform to let this story unravel because everyone is all on equal levels inside of the supermarket. Although everyone is all on equal playing fields in this setting the same things that differentiate them are still noticeable and cause conflict leading to the establishment of the themes mentioned above. Things like generational discrimination and socioeconomics were able to be shown in this setting based on the things people were buying food for as well as the grim looks they were giving to the group of girls. The tone of the short story was very impersonal and told from a first person point of view. This helps to make the reader feel as if they are a friend of the narrator, which makes it easier for readers to identify with some things going on relating it to their life experience. The narrator does a good job of talking in a very descriptive manner to make the reader feel as if they are in the supermarket with him visualizing everything that he sees. Through the use of repetition in the tone the narrator expresses things that are important that allude to the theme.