Compare And Contrast A & P And Barn Burning

Sammy begins the story by describing the three girls in bathing suits who have walked into the A & P grocery store. The girl who catches his attention is a chunky girl in a plaid green two-piece swimsuit. As Sammy continues to observe the girls, his interest seems to focus only on the girl who leads the other two into the store. Sammy refers to the girl he likes as "Queenie",someone showing poise and leadership, while the other girls

Transition -- In fact, Supporting point 2 -- when he contemplates what Queenie might be thinking Quote -- he wonders if her head is empty or “a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar” (824). Explain/relate quote to point -- In his mind she and the other girls are objects, not human beings. Transition -- Even the nicknames he makes up show the sexist attitude of an immature teenage boy. Supporting point 3/Quote -- Referring to the one he likes as “Queenie,” to her tall friend as “Big Tall Goony Goony” or other female shoppers as “houselaves” indicates that women in his view have no place or identity beyond themselves(825). Explain/relate quote to point -- indicates that women in his view have no place or identity beyond themselves Transition – further Supporting Point 4 -- His false-chivalric gesture at the end reveals his immaturity. Quote -- He assumes that the girls need an “unsuspected hero” to save them Explain/relate to point --, that they cannot take care of themselves or handle a little embarrassment (827). Concluding sentence -- Clearly, Sammy has much to learn about heroism, chivalry, and

Sammy, having heard enough of Lengel humiliating the girls, takes his heroic stand announcing that “he quit.” He even takes off his apron that had his name personally stitch on it and his bow tie. Another reason why Sammy quit the store probably gravitates toward Queenie and he may have wanted to talk to her, but Lengel ruined his chance by interfering. For example, Sammy said, "remembering how he made that pretty girl blush makes me so scrunchy inside I punched the No Sale tab.” He probably wanted to make Queenie blush by giving her compliments, but Lengel embarrassed her by making judgment due to her outfit and the situation definitely had an effect on Sammy since he punched the machine. Clearly, Sammy wanted the attention and was hoping the girls will give him some recognition for defending them, which became a lost cause and once he realized that his outburst didn’t attract the girls, his intentions changed. Sammy quit displaying that he’s becoming more independent as well as his transition to adulthood while at the same time defending the girls. It would also appear that he might’ve relied on his parents for some time. During the conversation between Sammy and Lengel before making his rash decision to quit, Lengel said, “Sammy, you don’t want to do this to your Mom and Dad,” implying that he will disappoint his parents if they quit because his parents are a friend of Lengel’s and they pretty much got Sammy the job at A&P. This shows that his parents’ efforts to get him the job would be a waste of time on

To begin with, Sammy shows a rude attitude through the story. He indicates little regard for other people’s age or knowledge. To illustrate, Sammy asserts the old aged customer, who reprimands Sammy for scanning her item two times while he is gawking at the girls, is “a witch about fifty … [who] would have burned her over in Salem” (Updike 320). Sammy’s despise toward this old lady—in fact shoppers—is perceptible. Also, when Sammy quits A&P, he talks discourteously to his manager Lengel. The readers soom comes to discover that Lengel is a friend of Sammy’s parents. Lengel attempts persude Sammy from making his rash decision, pointing out that he does not want to do to this to his

To begin, I will talk about the similarities between “A&P” and “Barn Burning.” “A&P” takes place at a normal grocery store in which many people dress properly. One day, three teenage girls walk into this store wearing nothing but bathing suits. The story concentrates around the thoughts Sammy, the cashier, has while watching these girls. When the girls come to check out in Sammy’s lane, the manager notices their attire and makes his way over to where the three girls are. Lengel, the manager, criticizes the girls for what they are wearing. As the girls begin to leave the store, Sammy suddenly turns to Lengel and quits his job. Sammy secretly hopes the girls are watching him and will consider him their hero; however, the girls are gone and did not notice his attempt at a heroic act. The manager tries to talk Sammy out of quitting, but Sammy feels that he must go through with his impromptu decision. At the end of the story, Sammy exists the store alone and with an ambiguous felling that life would still be hard to him afterward.

Sammy from John Updike’s “A&P” and Sarty from William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” are two great examples of young people raising their standards and doing what they believe is right. In “A&P”, Sammy is nineteen years old and works at a local grocery store named the A&P. His life changes the day he quits his job after defending three girls that are “called out” by Lengel, the manager, for breaking the unwritten dress code. In “Barn Burning”, Sarty is a ten year old boy who struggles between the fine line of right and wrong when his father, Abner Snopes, is put on trial for burning down a barn. When his father attempts to burn down another barn, Sarty takes charge and warns the owner. “A&P” and “Barn Burning” are short story classics that

Sammy’s face turns pale he knows that this will not end well and he is always at logger heads with Lengel. Queenie tries defending herself. “I only wanted to pick herring snacks for my mom”. “Yes, but this is not a beach!” Lengels echoes his words, all the clients on Sammy’s side start coming towards me and I ring up for them slowly keenly listening to the conversation. The air is tense but I am amazed that the old people shopping have no interest in what is

In William Faulkner's, “Barn Burning”, Sarty tries to conform to this life of crime. Sarty is the son of a sharecropper, who is known as the “barn burner”. Sarty is forced to live a continuously hectic life, that is both unhealthy and unstable. The Snopes family constantly travels place to place, and they never have a stable financial situation. Sarty begins to gain hope for his family, at the arrival of Major De Spain's home. The beauty of the home overwhelms Sarty, and gives him the push he needs to keep going. Abner unfortunately has the opposite feeling, which makes Sarty’s life harder. Sarty’s loyalty to his father is strong in the beginning, but soon fades away, due to his moral conscience to do right

Lengel, Sammy’s boss, is simply doing his best to keep the perception of his store good. Society is the reason the girl’s apparel is deemed inappropriate and Queenie represents confidence and innocence. Updike gave Sammy mixed views on society, some advanced and some still quite dated. By making Sammy as naïve and immature as he is in “A&P” it’s as though his ideals and values are undercut and

Sammy is a male chauvinist at the beginning of the story. While working, Sammy sees three girls that enter the store in bathing suits. He is so distracted by them that he cannot remember if he rang up a box of crackers or not. As it turns out, he did ring them up, a fact that his customer, “a witch about fifty,” lets him know quickly and loudly (“A & P”). Queenie becomes the central focus of Sammy 's attention as he collects and provides details like the exact shade of her hair color and the condition of her bathing suit. He described.

It is likely that this was not the last time in Sammy’s life where his expectations would not be met. One of the main reasons Sammy becomes so infatuated and enamored with the leader of the girls, whom he dubs “Queenie,” is that to him, she is representative of an upper class life. As Queenie holds the herring snacks, Sammy is able to visualize how they will be utilized later “All of a sudden I slid right down her voice into her living room. Her father and the other men were standing around in ice-cream coats and bow ties and the women were in sandals picking up herring snacks on toothpicks off a big plate and they were all holding drinks the color of water with olives and sprigs of mint in them” (Updike 4). Sammy hopes to one day be apart of that section of society, he dreams to leave the “Schlitz in tall glasses” in the dust, and for him to do so, the A&P must be out of his

The irony of Sammy’s sense of superiority throughout the story is that he realizes that, in the eyes of Queenie, he must seem just like every one else in the store. His sole desire to set himself apart from the to prove that he is different from the rest, leading him to quit his job. We start to see he desire to be more then who he truly is by his subtle hints he gives out as he observes the girls. On example, is when Queenie talks about picking up Herring snacks, we see Sammy slip into a day dream of how marvelous it would be to join in on her families parties. Only to bash his own family down by saying, “When my parents have somebody over they get lemonade and if it’s real racy affair Schlitz in tall glasses….” (Updike 21) showing his deep desire to live an elegant and sophisticated life. Sammy resents his parents for not being able to give him a life of riches. Although his parents try hard to give him a good life but getting him the job at A&P, Sammy still doesn’t think its good enough and he wishes he could live a fun care free life.

As the girls were just about done checking out, Sammy’s manager walked into the store and came over to his register. The Manager went on to tell the girls how “this isn’t the beach” and how “We want you decently dressed when you come in here” (Lawn 342) . Sammy noticed that Queenie began to blush and was starting to get embarrassed by the whole ordeal. This seemed to upset Sammy a great deal. I feel that Sammy stood up for Queenie and the other girls more than he would have when he figured that they were most likely part of the upper-class due to what they were purchasing for Queenie’s mother. As soon as Queenie said that, Sammy instantly pictured himself at Queenie’s house during a party with her mother and father enjoying the jar of herring snacks that Queenie was purchasing. Sammy then went on to compare this to what it was like when his mother had some people over and how they drank from glasses with cartoons stenciled on. As the girls quickly walked out of the store Sammy told his manager that he quits because Sammy felt that his manager handled the situation wrong by embarrassing Queenie. This was a major decision for Sammy to make so spur of the moment. With the help and incentive from Queenie and the other girls, Sammy was able to stand up for what he felt was the right thing at that time. After quitting Sammy walks outside in hopes that the girls will still be out there. When Sammy

Sammy is used to being a sarcastic observer of society, where Queenie and her friends just outright defy the social norm. For example when Queenie defends her fashion choices against Lengel by insisting, “We are decent,” her confidence has now turned into an embarrassment. Sammy sides with her argument that the young are always “decent”, and being “natural” should prevail over corporations and conformity. This leads Sammy to quit his job because he is infatuated with Queenie’s life and wants to impress her. Even though this news will upset his parents, he doesn’t care because he doesn’t want to be like them, drinking cheap beer or lemonade. But rather like Queenie who he pictures drinking water with olives and sprigs of mint. Sammy is looking to be something more than his

When three young teenage girls enter the store wearing nothing but bathing suits, things begin to change for Sammy. Sammy takes notice of the actions of the girls; how they go against the normal “traffic flow” of the supermarket and break the social rules of society with their attire. It is these attributes that attract Sammy to them, as they represent freedom and escape from the life he finds himself in. When Lengel approached them and reprimands them for what they are wearing, Sammy quits in hopes of becoming the girls unsuspected hero.