When reading narratives told in the first person point of view, readers are limited to only the thoughts of that narrator, therefore the reader can never be sure if he or she is getting the full truth, which makes the narrator unreliable. The narrator Sammy in John Updike’s “A&P” and Mama in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” are both unreliable narrators. The factors that contribute to these narrators unreliability are their age, motivation, and gender and race, which lead to rash decisions made in certain situations. Sammy is a nineteen year old cashier at the A&P grocery store. After he makes fun of the older women in the store calling them “sheep, with six kids and varicose veins mapping their legs” (21) a reader can tell how young and immature
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These motivations are another aspect of why both narrators are unreliable. Readers can infer from “A&P” that Sammy does not like his job very much. He actually quits after he claims the manager mistreated and embarrassed the girls. However, Sammy really uses the girls as an excuse to finally quit his job. He covers it up by trying to look like a cool hero in front of the girls, but as he realizes they do not care reality hits him. As he leaves the store he says, “And my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (23). This is also another example of how immature Sammy still is. Although, he is not the only one who makes decisions based on underlying issues. Mama makes the decision not to give Dee the old quilts when she asks for them. Dee did not accept them the first time Mama asked, so she uses that against Dee out of spite. Mama favors Maggie because she is living the same life Mama did, but she is antagonistic towards Dee for living differently. She does not know that the world has changed, and there are more opportunities for the black community now than there were when Mama was younger. Mama acts like Dee is so silly for taking advantage of these new opportunities because she is stuck in the past. Dee speaks the truth when she tells Maggie, “You ought to try to make something of yourself, too, Maggie. It’s really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama live you’d never know it”
These motivations are another aspect of why both narrators are unreliable. Readers can infer from “A&P” that Sammy does not like his job very much. He actually quits after he claims the manager mistreated and embarrassed the girls. However, Sammy really uses the girls as an excuse to finally quit his job. He covers it up by trying to look like a cool hero in front of the girls, but as he realizes they do not care reality hits him. As he leaves the store he says, “And my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (23). This is also another example of how immature Sammy still is. Although, he is not the only one who makes decisions based on underlying issues. Mama makes the decision not to give Dee the old quilts when she asks for them. Dee did not accept them the first time Mama asked, so she uses that against Dee out of spite. Mama favors Maggie because she is living the same life Mama did, but she is antagonistic towards Dee for living differently. She does not know that the world has changed, and there are more opportunities for the black community now than there were when Mama was younger. Mama acts like Dee is so silly for taking advantage of these new opportunities because she is stuck in the past. Dee speaks the truth when she tells Maggie, “You ought to try to make something of yourself, too, Maggie. It’s really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama live you’d never know it”