AP Themes and Symbols - 1419 Words

Updikes A P is rich in symbolism and begins in the very first paragraph. Sammy is eyeing the three bikini-clad girls who walk into his supermarket where he is a checker. His reverie is interrupted, however, by a witch whose feathers Sammy has to smooth. The older generation are typically symbolized in negative terms throughout the story, those women who cannot and will not understand youth. Queenie, on the other hand, is symbolic of all that is alluring about women and life that might be possible for Sammy on the outside, a life that seems palatable yet unattainable to Sammy. Stokesie, Sammys older co-worker, is symbolic of the life Sammy may well be headed for: married, tied down with children, and few options for another†¦show more content†¦To Lengels credit, in spite of his stuffiness and self-importance, he shows Sammy patience. He does not yell or order him immediately out of the store, but warns him of the very real consequences of his act. Yet, it is Lengels adherence to the social code—which says that this behavior must go into Sammys personnel file and dog him for the rest of his life—that cause those consequences. It is, in a small way, like Greek tragedy. The players in this drama are helpless to act other than the way they do, but it is not the gods who set the parameters of their behavior, but society, with its written and unwritten list of expected behaviors and consequences for deviating from that list. Individualism Sammy asserts his individuality when he quits. He knows that Lengel has every right, according to the standards of his time, to speak to the girls as he does. But by standing up for the girls, Sammy questions those standards and asserts that there is a higher standard of decency that says one should not embarrass others. In deciding which rules of conduct are more important, he asserts his individuality, unlike the girls who slink away because they know they have violated the rules of conduct. Sammy is the only character in this story who asserts his individuality. Two of the girls are simply following their leader, and Queenie is easily embarrassed and capitulates to Lengel. The other shoppersShow MoreRelatedA P By John Updike1160 Words   |  5 Pagesthe girls’ eyes. Reality sinks into Sammy when he misses the girls’ exit and regret fills him. What he thinks is noble and just becomes a changed, regretful soul. In â€Å"AP† by John Updike, the symbolism portrays the theme of the desire for change. The girls’ immodesty is a symbol of rebellion, revealing the theme of the desire for change. As Sammy acknowledges in the short story, the story takes place â€Å"north of Boston† (Updike 360). The estimated time period is the 1960s. At thisRead MorePersuasive Essay804 Words   |  4 Pagesthrough illustrations of a cathedral, drawn by the narrator with his eyes closed. â€Å"Cathedral’s† narrator exposes readers to anti-heroic views influenced by his thoughts and actions through the analysis of the story’s theme, symbols, and conflicts. As readers will obtain, the theme, looking verses seeing, of â€Å"Cathedral† becomes a major element towards the narrator’s insulting comments. The narrator clearly shows his capability of looking, through his remembrance of, â€Å"having read somewhere that theRead MoreMoney for Moneys Sake in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald804 Words   |  3 Pagesperfectly captures the essence of the theme that I have come to for The Great Gatsby. The theme I see most strongly reflected in the book is this: Although greed and lust are human nature, they are often used as a substitute for happiness, but almost always lead to decay. I will provide examples of this theme by looking into events and the behavior of characters throughout the plot of the book. One main event in the book that I believe strongly represents the theme is when Gatsby is shot while floatingRead MoreGerman Propaganda and its Effects on the Holocaust and World War Two1127 Words   |  5 Pagesthrough the use of mass media of communications, the manner in which a mass audience perceives and ascribes meaning to the material world.†1 Propaganda was a major part of Germany’s way to brain wash people into following Hitler and his army. The theme of Hitler and Goebbels, (Paul Joseph Goebbels, was appointed Hitler’s Reichspropagandaleiter, the Nazis national director of propaganda), using propaganda, â€Å"was to merge the traditional German patriotism with Nazi ideological motifs†2, this was basicallyRead MoreAnalysis Of A P 940 Words   |  4 Pages6- What is the theme of â€Å"AP†? What literary devices are employed in the story? Love, disillusion, religion†¦ every story has its own theme and its author leads the readers all the way to its understanding. The short story â€Å"AP† is not an exception of this. Written by John Updike and published in the New Yorker in 1961, it tells the story of Sammy, a 19 years old cashier in an AP grocery store who is amazed by the journey of three girls that enter the store dressed only in bikinis. The story isRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie Caramelo By Sandra Cisneros1508 Words   |  7 Pagesmoves through Texas, Chicago, and Mexico, Cisneros exhibits the theme of identity through the family’s history, relationships, and other interactions the characters have with one another. Everybody’s role and identity within a latino family are explored throughout the text. Sandra Cisneros uses smaller main ideas and symbols of home, love, roots, and womanhood in order to further elucidate the greater theme of identity. One of the symbols and smaller main ideas that the characters explore is the meaningRead MoreSymbolism In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson879 Words   |  4 Pagestradition. Shirley Jackson uses many symbols in the story to relate to the theme. By doing this it helps the reader understand the story and the message she is trying to get across. Jackson uses tone, setting, and symbolism to conduct a theme for her readers. By doing this she creates connections to the theme by using the black box and old man Warner as a symbol. Old man Warner plays a significant role in â€Å"The Lottery† considering he is one of the main symbols. Old man Warner is the oldest man inRead MoreFlowers for Algernon Symbols and Motifs1629 Words   |  7 PagesSymbols and Motifs By Amber Wang In Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, there are many motifs and symbols. According to Dictionary.com (2013), a motif is: â€Å"a recurring subject, theme, idea, etc., especially in a literary, artistic, or musical work.† On the other hand, a symbol is, according to the same website: â€Å"something used for or regarded as representing something else; a material object representing something, often something immaterial; emblem, token, or sign.† However, unlike motifs,Read MoreA P By John Updike1532 Words   |  7 PagesPaper 1: AP by John Updike In this essay I will be reviewing the six elements of fiction: point of view, plot, setting, characterization, symbolism, and theme in the story, AP by John Updike, to see how it constitutes to the work as a whole. Sammy, a 19-year-old cashier at the AP, narrates AP. In this first-person narrative, the narrator tells us everything as he sees it, but since it is a limited point of view the narrator is unreliable. But this allows the reader to notice growth in the characterRead MoreWit Flim Mid Term734 Words   |  3 Pagesmake the story more interesting and creates the story to be more detailed. Two stories in which characterization makes the story better and are similar in the way that the themes go is â€Å"Aamp;P† written by John Updlike and â€Å"Araby† written by James Joyce. Both story is about a worker who is admiring a woman from a far. In â€Å"Aamp;P† Updlike characterize the three girls who walk in the store that he is working. He describes in details of how the girls looked and even the color of their bathing suite and