Comparing A & P And Barn Burning

John Updike's "A&P" is about a boy named Sammy, who lives a simple life while working in a supermarket he seems to despise. As he is following his daily routine, three girls in bathing suits enter the store. The girls affect everyone's monotonous lives, especially Sammy's. Because the girls disrupt the routines of the store, Sammy becomes aware of his life and decides to change himself.

The short story “A&P” written by John Updike, is about three girls who change Sammy’s life. The three girls came from the beach and are not dressed properly to enter a grocery store called A&P. Sammy, the main character, is a check out clerk, and observes every detail about the girls. Sam even gives each of the girls a name. His favorite is “Queenie.” Sammy is obviously the type of guy who doesn’t get a lot of girls. Sam has a conflict of person vs. society. Because of his dead end job, obsession with Queenie, and his noble act to save the girls from embarrassment, Sammy has a conflict between himself and society.

In “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner, the main focus is on the Snopes family. Sarty Snopes is a ten-year-old boy, who has to deal with his demeaning father, Abner—who has recently been convicted of arson, so the family is forced to move out of town. Because of this conviction, Sarty is put in a very uncomfortable situation where he might have to testify against his father, which causes several conflicts within the story. Faulkner uses Sarty to portray that not every child grows up with ideal parents that genuinely care for he or she. Faulkner exemplifies this truth through pathos, symbolism, theme, and diction. Will Sarty be courageous and fight against his father or will he join his father and become a coward, like him?

A&P is described to be, “...five miles from a beach...but we’re right in the middle of town...north of Boston…” (Updike 19). Sammy’s description of the A&P present the setting as an ugly and boring place to be in. The fluorescent light is as cool as the “checkerboard green-and-cream rubber-tile floor”(Updike 19). The everyday grocery shoppers move in the same direction except for the girls in the swim suits, for they move against everyone else, and everything is organized into perfection along the tidy aisles. This degrading routine in this establishment is implied by Sammy’s careless reference to the usual shoppers as “sheep,” “houseslaves,” and “pigs” (Updike 18). These frequent customers seem to walk the store in oblivion to everything else around them; as Sammy points out, “I bet you could set off dynamite in an A&P and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their lists…” (Updike 18).

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

In 1939, William Faulkner, introduced the short story “Barn Burning.” “Barn Burning” is about a ten-year old boy, Colonel Sartoris Snopes, and his inner-conflict with his conscience to do the virtuous thing. Colonel Sartoris, or Sarty, continuously deals with the repercussions of, his father, Abner Snopes’s delinquent actions. Throughout the story, Faulkner portrays Sarty as a dynamic character with multiple characteristics as he conflicts with himself and his father. Because of Sarty’s loyalty and submissiveness to his family he feels obligated to conceal his father’s crimes; however, Sarty’s innocent qualities alters his mindset to oppose his family.

Influences from the Great Depression are evident in the racist attitude and views of Abner Snopes. Poor, white families during the 1930s struggled with their place in the overall social structure, a trait mirrored in “Barn Burning.” During his first trial, Abner attempts to refute the testimony of a black man, discrediting him because of his race. Later, it is revealed that Abner used this same person to initiate the first barn burning (Faulkner 480). Abner’s willingness to betray and slander the black man only highlights his contempt for the African-American populace. Abner mimics the attitudes of white farmers in rural America during the height of the Great Depression. Without the

When reading the short story “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner, understanding literary elements such as patterns, word choice as well as reader/writer relationships are essential in appreciating Faulkner’s literary piece. Some of the literary elements found in the story are small and are almost immaterial while others are large and all-encompassing. For example, the mother’s fragmented clock, a small and insignificant object, is used so carefully in order to extract the maximum effect from the viewers; the keen, but more frequent use of dialectal terms which contain clandestine, secondary meanings; and finally, the relationship between the reader and writer, William Faulkner’s choice of narrator as well as the point of view works

“A&P” takes place in a grocery store. The grocery store, A&P, is five miles from a beach which explains why the three girls walked into the store with bathing suits on. “Barn Burning”

Instead, after overcoming obstacles like his apathetic uncle and the work of school, the boy arrives in Araby during closing time. After witnessing the store clerk’s lack of interest in him as a customer, he decides not to buy anything and then, upon his failure, he realizes how his crush will be fruitless through a negative epiphany. The boy inevitably understands the futility of his actions, as if the entire world was acting against his efforts to impress the girl he was obsessed with; his determination is suppressed after making it so far and failing at the final step of his mission. The inciting hope that the conversation instilled in him combined with the obstacles he had to overcome, only made his failure all the more bitter, but this harsh failure is the turning point that the boy needed in order to escape the childish and naive infatuation that he was experiencing. Failure was the lesson that made him understand that his love will remain unrequited, a realization that is the prerequisite for his sexual maturity. In a similar fashion, John Updike’s A&P portrays the mundane life of a cashier named Sammy who works in a grocery store called A&P. Sammy observes the people around him — customers and fellow employees — and refers to them as “sheep” because of their conformity to society. The story begins as three girls clad in bikinis walk into the store; they

Not only is “Barn Burning” about the in the hereditary sense of "blood ties," but it is also about how a young boy's conscience dictates his actions. It is through Faulkner's use of stream-of-consciousness narration that the reader is aware of Sarty's innermost thoughts and feelings.

Southern literature often focuses on the significance of family, one’s role within society, justice, race relations, and the ownership of land and laboring on it. These themes are greatly highlighted in William Faulkner’s short story, Barn Burning. The condition of the Snopes is representative of the circumstances that virtually subjugated many black and white laborers after the civil war. The setting of poor Southern workers succeeding the Reconstruction Era is an ideal environment for exploring one of the themes of Barn Burning: unfair societal roles.

Barn Burning, set in 1895 during the Reconstruction period after the Civil War, shows the reader that the tension between races and social classes were still at an all time high despite the end of slavery. The antagonist, Abner, displays his disdain towards social classes through his defiant actions.

“Barn burning”, a story by William Faulkner, tell the story about a boy called Sartoris that decides to “betray” his dad for committing crimes like burning barns. Sartoris, who is just starting to see the difference between right and wrong, has been covering up his dad’s crimes, and in some occasions, helping him to commit them. His dad thinks this is the only way to make justice if anyone messes with him or his family. Eventually, Sartoris starts to analyze the severity of his dad’s actions and chooses not to help him anymore in his attempt to burn the second barn belonging to his new boss, De Spain. Faulkner’s message in his work can vary from the perspective of every reader. Jane Hiles, in her essay “Blood Ties in Barn Burning”, states that Faulkner’s intention wasn’t to recognize Sartori’s decision, but to support his dad’s beliefs of being loyal to him and his family. Even if it means that he has to help him with the crimes. As evidence, she presents an interview directed to Faulkner in which he says that in order for his people to survive against the conquerors they needed to remain as a clan. “Faulkner delivered an appraisal of the phenomenon of clannishness that bears considerable relevance to Abner Snope’s defensive posture in Barn Burning”, she states.

Thus, his father’s order and his own societal opinions always put him in the situations, which is full of dilemmas and he also doesn’t understand his father’s ‘himself’ philosophy. For example, if his father doesn’t get what he believes or what he loves or likes or what he expects, he becomes rebellious and burns opposite party’s barn. For example, barn burning cases of Mr. Harris’ barn and Major de Spain’s barn. Abner’s enmity with Harris on certain matters and Major de Spain on the issues of Rug, Sarty doesn’t care to consider Harris and Major de Spain as his enemy, though Abner believes them enemy. In fact, with a great courage he shows for informing Major de Spain about Abnes’ intention to do harm to him while his father makes up his mind