Digging a Little Deeper with Theme
In the short stories, “A & P” by John Updike and “Araby” by James Joyce, both have themes that are affected by all the pieces of a story. These stories help reveal what people are doing for others. The components of literature such as character, point of view, and setting all contribute to the theme of the story.
In the short story “A & P” the two major themes are don’t let others influence your decisions and equality between genders. The setting for this story is somewhere between 1950 and 1970. You can tell this story takes place several decades signified by how low prices were for example, “KingFish Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream: 49￠” (Updike 433). Females during this time period were more limited …show more content…
The characters present in the story help show how things are perceived. Almost all of the men in the store would stop and stare at the girls in the swimsuits but the women barely noticed. “All that was left us to see was old McMahon patting his mouth and looking after them sizing up their joints.” (Updike 432). Sam, who tells the story likes the girls and thinks they are being treated unfairly when they are asked to leave because they are only wearing swimsuits. Sam tells his manager he quits, and his manager tries to convince him otherwise. “Lengel sighs and begins to look very patient and old and gray. He’s been a friend of my parents for my parents for years. ‘Sammy, you don’t want to do this to your Mom and Dad,’ he tells me. It’s true, I don’t. But it seems to me once you begin a gesture it’s fatal not to go through with it”(Updike 435). The point of view would most likely change the whole theme if somebody else were telling the …show more content…
The setting of this story takes place in Dublin early 1900’s. The boy’s house, the street by his house, and the bazaar are the main locations that help create the themes in this story. The boy’s street is where he plays with his friend, Mangan, and where he watches Mangan’s sister, whom he loves. “Every morning I lay on the floor in the front parlour watching her door. The blind was pulled down within an inch of the stash so that I could not be seen . When she came out on the doorstep my heart leaped” (Joyce 322). The boy’s house helps create the idea of not letting others influence you when his uncle is trying to keep him at home. The bazaar helps show how the boy is frustrated with his first love. The characters present in this story help make the theme don’t let other influence your decisions. Mangan is one of the boy’s friends but still really likes his sister. When the sister finally talks to the boy, she asks if he is going to the bazaar. She told him that he should go and buy something because that is what she wishes to do. She unintentionally influenced him to go get her something from the bazaar and the boy loved her so he wanted to impress her. The uncle tries to convince the boy that he should stay at home, instead of going to the bazaar and wasting his money. If this story was told from a different point of view the theme would be
In the short stories, “A & P” by John Updike and “Araby” by James Joyce, both have themes that are affected by all the pieces of a story. These stories help reveal what people are doing for others. The components of literature such as character, point of view, and setting all contribute to the theme of the story.
In the short story “A & P” the two major themes are don’t let others influence your decisions and equality between genders. The setting for this story is somewhere between 1950 and 1970. You can tell this story takes place several decades signified by how low prices were for example, “KingFish Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream: 49￠” (Updike 433). Females during this time period were more limited …show more content…
The characters present in the story help show how things are perceived. Almost all of the men in the store would stop and stare at the girls in the swimsuits but the women barely noticed. “All that was left us to see was old McMahon patting his mouth and looking after them sizing up their joints.” (Updike 432). Sam, who tells the story likes the girls and thinks they are being treated unfairly when they are asked to leave because they are only wearing swimsuits. Sam tells his manager he quits, and his manager tries to convince him otherwise. “Lengel sighs and begins to look very patient and old and gray. He’s been a friend of my parents for my parents for years. ‘Sammy, you don’t want to do this to your Mom and Dad,’ he tells me. It’s true, I don’t. But it seems to me once you begin a gesture it’s fatal not to go through with it”(Updike 435). The point of view would most likely change the whole theme if somebody else were telling the …show more content…
The setting of this story takes place in Dublin early 1900’s. The boy’s house, the street by his house, and the bazaar are the main locations that help create the themes in this story. The boy’s street is where he plays with his friend, Mangan, and where he watches Mangan’s sister, whom he loves. “Every morning I lay on the floor in the front parlour watching her door. The blind was pulled down within an inch of the stash so that I could not be seen . When she came out on the doorstep my heart leaped” (Joyce 322). The boy’s house helps create the idea of not letting others influence you when his uncle is trying to keep him at home. The bazaar helps show how the boy is frustrated with his first love. The characters present in this story help make the theme don’t let other influence your decisions. Mangan is one of the boy’s friends but still really likes his sister. When the sister finally talks to the boy, she asks if he is going to the bazaar. She told him that he should go and buy something because that is what she wishes to do. She unintentionally influenced him to go get her something from the bazaar and the boy loved her so he wanted to impress her. The uncle tries to convince the boy that he should stay at home, instead of going to the bazaar and wasting his money. If this story was told from a different point of view the theme would be