Linking "A&P" and The Awakening
There are over fifty years between the idea of "A&P" and The Awakening. The time does not yield the connection between these two stories. "A&P" is a coming of age tale about the importance of decisions. Main character, Sammy, quits his job after his boss shows disrespect towards three beautiful girls at the store. The Awakening is a story about the fight for women's independence and individuality. The novel is based in the life of Edna, a married woman with two children. She strays away from her normal, basic life to experience the freedoms of an artist. Kate Chopin's The Awakening and John Updike's "A&P" have comparable themes that are portrayed through character and setting.
The theme of identity is present …show more content…
Written in the late 1800's, Kate Chopin's The Awakening was controversial at the time. In a society based around gender rules and class, this story's setting has an impact on theme. Main character, Edna, experiences a sense of non-belonging here, "A feeling of oppression and drowsiness overcame Edna during the service" (Chopin 28). Edna is not accepted by her society because she does not want to live the same life as women her age. The quote provided allows the readers to see the feelings Edna has while in public. Due to pressures put on by society at this time, Edna feels rejected. Like Edna, "A&P"'s Sammy felt forced to do something because of common thoughts in society. Sammy's boss, Lengel, felt it was not right for the three girls to be distracting his customers in their bathing suits. Sammy had the opposite opinion, because his actions proved so. Sammy explains, "A few house-slaves in pin curlers even looked around after pushing their carts past to make sure what they had seen was correct" (Updike 58). He is saying that people were not used to seeing that in a grocery store. Sammy acted for something that others thought was crude, which is
There are over fifty years between the idea of "A&P" and The Awakening. The time does not yield the connection between these two stories. "A&P" is a coming of age tale about the importance of decisions. Main character, Sammy, quits his job after his boss shows disrespect towards three beautiful girls at the store. The Awakening is a story about the fight for women's independence and individuality. The novel is based in the life of Edna, a married woman with two children. She strays away from her normal, basic life to experience the freedoms of an artist. Kate Chopin's The Awakening and John Updike's "A&P" have comparable themes that are portrayed through character and setting.
The theme of identity is present …show more content…
Written in the late 1800's, Kate Chopin's The Awakening was controversial at the time. In a society based around gender rules and class, this story's setting has an impact on theme. Main character, Edna, experiences a sense of non-belonging here, "A feeling of oppression and drowsiness overcame Edna during the service" (Chopin 28). Edna is not accepted by her society because she does not want to live the same life as women her age. The quote provided allows the readers to see the feelings Edna has while in public. Due to pressures put on by society at this time, Edna feels rejected. Like Edna, "A&P"'s Sammy felt forced to do something because of common thoughts in society. Sammy's boss, Lengel, felt it was not right for the three girls to be distracting his customers in their bathing suits. Sammy had the opposite opinion, because his actions proved so. Sammy explains, "A few house-slaves in pin curlers even looked around after pushing their carts past to make sure what they had seen was correct" (Updike 58). He is saying that people were not used to seeing that in a grocery store. Sammy acted for something that others thought was crude, which is