John Updikes AP Essay - 767 Words

In John Updike’s short story, AP the writer takes you on a youths memory that involves the choices and consequences that life can deal to anyone who has not had time to test a rash decision. The narrator is an immature nineteen-year-old cashier who is about to make a giant leap from adolescence to manhood. Sammy narrates with opinions of not only his life, but also the people in the town. Sammy opposes with the way these people live their lives, and is determined to set a different course for his future. The author uses characterization, symbolism, and setting to explain Sammys life issues such as decision-making, result of action, and responsibility. The story illustrates that part of growing up is about making choices and a willingness†¦show more content†¦Although at first glance, the link between the characters and items are not clear. Uniquely, Updike uses Sammy to link items in the store to develop characterization with the store manager, the customers and the t hree girls. Updike uses symbolization to further emphasize and develop the actions and spirit of the characters. Cookies and applesauce have a sweet and youthful appeal, whereas oatmeal is primitive. Oatmeal is depicted bland, and having a dated influence on society like Mr. Lengel and the customers, whereas Sammy and the girls have a sweet and youthful allure. When Sammy quits in protest of how the girls treatment by the stores manager, he perceives that from now on, the world will be a more difficult place. As Sammy tells the story, his language indicates that, at age nineteen, he is both cynical and romantic. He sees his co-worker Stokesie as a glimpse of what Sammy’s future might be like; Stokesie’s family â€Å"is the only difference† between them, Sammy comments. When Mr. Lengel addresses the girls attire by telling the girls, â€Å"Girls, this is not the beach† (Updike 100). We see the manager; Lengel as a square peg. He will obey society’s rules, and is not one to make an impulsive decision. In AP, he is a hard-working person with much ambition in contrast with Sammy. It is at this point in the story that we see the climax, and biggest change. The use of irony is in John Updike’s APShow MoreRelatedJohn Updike’s AP1429 Words   |  6 Pageseven in usage of language. The new generation s 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 teenage boy named Sammy works at a local store called AP. Sammy is a young casher, that stands up to his boss and he stands up for three girls who are dressed in bathing suits. Sammy lives in a small town, where nothing really happens. There is a struggle within everyRead MoreSymbolism in John Updikes A P1440 Words   |  6 PagesJohn Updikes short story A P recounts how an adolescent supermarket cashier named Sammy has his life changed forever when three girls in bathing suits shop in the store where he works. He is the first person narrator who shapes the tale with his descriptions, attitudes and opinions. He is the protagonist who grows up quickly in a single day and the only round, fully developed character in the tale. As you proceed through the story and become acquainted with Sammys opinions and ideas, it becomesRead More John Updikes A P Essay1471 Words   |  6 PagesJohn Updikes A P At first read, John Updikes A P contrasts old and new; the old manager in his settled life conflicting with the new age of girls wearing bathing suits in buildings. All the while, the narrator stuck in the middle, finally deciding to join the side of new, or youth. Instead of old vs. new, an observation closer to the heart of the story is conflict between the worlds of the rich and the middle class. ?A P? is the setting for one man to decide in which way he will seekRead MoreEssay on John Updikes AP865 Words   |  4 PagesJohn Updikes AP Many of the events that take place in John Updikes AP would not have happened had the town lived under a Marxist society. Marxism is a socio-economic ideal where all people work for the good of the community and is characterized by not having any social class distinctions. The division of Classes in AP is very apparent, especially between Sammy, the protagonist and first person narrator, and the three girls, one of the three antagonists, who walk into the storeRead MoreJohn Updikes AP Essay1355 Words   |  6 Pages Winners Sometimes Quit Try and remember what it was like to be a teenager. The short story â€Å"Aamp;P† tells the coming of age story of a nineteen year old boy named Sammy. Sammy has unknowingly placed himself into a situation that many small town adolescents often fall victim to. Sammy has a dead end job, and he feels as though he will be stuck working at the local â€Å"Aamp;P† while life passes him by. This is until a chance encounter with three young female customers changes his course from miniRead MoreEssay on Personality in John Updikes AP1275 Words   |  6 Pagescharacter to make them stand out in a story.nbsp; In A amp; P by John Updike, Sammy starts off as a young man discontent with his ordinary adult surroundings and moves to his need to change it. Throughout the story, Sammy describes and interprets the scenes around him, consequently revealing his own character, by which can be related through the use of Thomas Chous Ennegram, to distinguish his personality type. nbsp; John Updike gives the reader an inside look into the adolescent mindRead MoreAnalysis Of John Updikes AP Essay1544 Words   |  7 PagesJohn Updikes story AP talks about a 19-year old lad, Sammy, who has a job at the local grocery store, the AP. Sammy works at the register in the store and is always observing the people who walk in and out each day. On this particular day that the story takes place, Sammy is caught off guard when a cluster of girls walk into the store wearing just their bathing suits. This caught Sammys attention because the nearest beach is five miles away and he could not figure out why they would still beRead MoreChanges (John Updikes AP) Essay914 Words   |  4 PagesEnglish 1302.2E1 Changes Breaking away from the traditional is a struggle that contains several sacrifices and consequences. In John Updike’s â€Å"AP,† Sammy is a young teenager who transforms his wishes into reality. At first glance, he seems like a normal teenage boy, but instead he is an observational character who is trying to find a way to stand up for himself. Throughout the story, he undergoes changes toRead MoreJohn Updikes aP : Sammys Growth1545 Words   |  7 PagesJohn Updikes AP : Sammys Growth John Updikes story AP is about a nineteen year old boy, Sammy, who has a job at the local grocery store, the AP. Sammy works at the register in the store and is always observing the people who walk in and out each day. On this particular day that the story takes place, Sammy is caught off guard when a cluster of girls walk into the store wearing just their bathing suits. This caught Sammys attention because the nearest beach is five miles away and he couldRead MoreRebellion And Symbolism In John Updikes A P1842 Words   |  8 PagesThe short story â€Å"A P,† tells the story of a nineteen-year-old boy named Sammy who works in the local town grocery store. Sammy is the narrator of the story; one day while he was working at the cash register, three girls wearing nothing but bathing suits walk in. He instantaneously notices the girls, one in particular. He named her Queenie and she is seen as the leader or ‘queen bee’ of the three girls. As these girls walk th rough the grocery store they start to create a scene and get the attention