The Turning Point in John Updikes A P Essay - 1133 Words

The Turning Point in John Updikes A P John Updikes short story A P reveals nineteen-year old Sammy, the central character, as a complex person. Although Sammy appears, on the surface, as carefree and driven by male hormones, he has a lengthy agenda to settle. Through depersonalization, Sammy reveals his ideas about sexuality, social class, stereotypes, responsibility, and authority. Updikes technique, his motif, is repeated again and again through the active teenage mind of the narrator Sammy. Sammy is, like most young men, object-minded. The object of his mind is the female body. Although his upbringing and the fact that he is at work do not allow him to voice his admiration for the girls in bikinis at the A P, he lets†¦show more content†¦Queenies selection of fancy herring snacks had become her status symbol. Sammy contrasted the queens social circle with his own familys, where guests were served lemonade and cheap beer in tall glasses with Theyll Do It Every Time cartoons stencilled [sic] on (29). The perceived class difference was perhaps not all bad, however. It could be seen as a buffer in a situation such as Sammys. If the object of his affection did not return his attention, Sammy was still free to admire and desire her from a distance, with little threat to his own ego. Sammys typical teenage focus on youthful good looks measured all women against the youth-culture standard, an impossible standard for all but those in their prime. Sammy could not see his customers as the reason for his employment. He certainly did not see their humanity, or their value as mothers and wives. He brought new creativity to stereotypes, seeing his customers as houseslaves in pin curlers (28) or young [marrieds] screaming with [their] children (30). His youth, along with his lack of life-experience, had not yet afforded him the opportunity to know anyone of the opposite sex as either partner or helpmate. His hormones colored everything he thought about; they forced the label of sexual or asexual on every female he laid eyes on, based on the attractiveness of the females scoops of vanilla (30) or soft-looking canShow MoreRelated Coming-of-Age Stories with Morals: T. Coraghessan Boyles Greasy Lake and John Updikes A P669 Words   |  3 PagesT. Coraghessan Boyles Greasy L ake and John Updikes A P have many similarities as well as differences. Both are coming-of-age stories that teach some sort of lesson to the protagonist at the end. â€Å"AP† is about a nineteen-year-old boy who stands up against his manager to impress a couple of girls who are dressed â€Å"immodestly†. â€Å"Greasy Lake† is about many nineteen years olds playing a prank on a couple of bad characters who turn out to show the teens what they can really do in return. Read More Youthful Experience in James Joyces Araby Essay1607 Words   |  7 Pagesstraggling bushes, and dark muddy lanes give a bleak theme to Arabys initial opening. These words and phrases suggest a lonely, dark existence for the young boy (252-253). The most interesting of these descriptions, which appears to be a pivot-point in the story, occurs when the young boy is waiting to see if Mangans sister would go in or remain on the doorstep. The narrator states that ...we left our shadow place and walked up to Mangans steps resignedly (253). It is with the use of thisRead MoreJohn Updike’s AP1429 Words   |  6 Pageswas there turning point in the nation. The generation gaps are the differences amongst the younger generation and their elders, and mainly amongst children and their parents. Generation gap still occurs today, in thing varying from behavior, to genres of music, and even in usage of language. The new generations try to express themselves as something different from the old, embracing new slang, trying to form a separation between themselves and the previous generation. In John Updike’s â€Å"A P†, a teenageRead MoreJohn Updike s A P And James Joyce s Araby1877 Words   |  8 PagesComing-of-age is a chapter that every individual must inevitably trek through in order to grow and mature into one’s own self. In John Updike’s AP and James Joyce’s Araby, the theme of growth permeates throughout both narratives as their respective protagonists fabricate an ideal world from their own naive perspectives, only to shed their ignorant fantasies about how they believe to understand that the world can bend to their decisions to truly understand the cruelty behind world they live in: reachingRead MoreJohn Updike s A P1290 Words   |  6 PagesCan it however be seen that innocence may be conformity while experience is rebellion? While innocent, children will do as he or she is told and develops thoughts based on their parent or guardian’s teachings. During adolescence parent’ hair starts turning gray because th at once obedient child has developed a mind and personality of his or her own. A personality that may result to â€Å"rebellious† behavior because the teenager or young adult stays out too late or never spends any time with the family becauseRead MoreThe Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allan Poe907 Words   |  4 PagesWhat can a character that lived in 1700s Italy have in common with a teenager in the 1960s? Though it may seem impossible Edgar Allan Poe’s character Montresor in The Cask of Amontillado shares similar characteristics to John Updike’s AP teenage Sammy. Both of these characters share sarcastic tendencies and a need to make a name of himself. Though, each man differs in the way he goes about making that name. While Montresor decides murder is the way, Sammy quits his job to be noticed. One way thatRead MoreThe Rise And Fall Of Troy Maxon1278 Words   |  6 Pagesdetermination after the death of his mistress to finish it to keep Death out. Additionally, the allegorical use of the AP as Cory’s employer builds upon the societal indoctrination into male society suggested in John Updike’s short story AP demonstrates Troy’s desire for Cory to follow an established and predictable path to manhood and self-sufficiency. Troy’s insistence that Cory work at the AP even if it means quitting football is in stark contrast to Cory’s desire to pursue football for the opportunityRead MoreThe Tell Tale Heart Analysis1295 Words   |  6 PagesKlinger, Sabrina - Midterm Exam Explain the term ‘unreliable narrator’. How does this point of view complicate the plot in Poe’s, The Tell-Tale heart? An unreliable narrator is a narrator whose credibility has been seriously compromised whether it be in literature, film or theatre. Such as providing faulty, misleading or distorted details. The narrator in this short story is the killer. We really do not get the opportunity to really know the killer such as his name and what his motive is in killingRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesconflict (if they have not already been introduced by the exposition). The conflict is then developed gradually and intensified. CRISIS: The crisis (also referred to as the climax) is that moment at which the plot reaches its point of greatest emotional intensity; it is the turning point of the plot, directly precipitating its resolution. FALLING ACTION: Once the crisis has been reached, the tension subsides and the plot moves toward its appointed conclusion. RESOLUTION: The final section of the plot