Aguiar, Christian. Living class in John Updike’s “A&P”. The Explicator, vol.78, no. 2, 2020, pp. 58-61.
Some analyses identify the specific variation of the short story interpretation referred to as the “living class” concept of Beverly Skeggs. It is known as a classism perception in A&P Story, another metaphoric tool in order to direct a plot towards the fundamental social issue. This approach is used to identify characteristics of the existing classes and their influence on the main character’s choice and behavior (Aguiar, 58). This point of view suggests that Sammy is wrongly considered as the rebellious character in this context. There is a possibility that the actions of this person are directed in the wrong way. The reason for this is the misunderstanding of “his class position due to the deceptive class dynamics of the supermarket where he works” (Aguiar, 59). Therefore, classism may have a significantly negative effect on Sammy that resulted in the personal rebellion of the character.
This academic paper criticizes the metaphoric description under the classism topic, which may be considered as a tool to provide a better understanding of characters’ identification. The article can be included in the research paper for further discussion and evaluation of the living class topic in Updike’s ‘A&P’ story taking into account metaphoric expressions used in narration and literary language characteristics of the author. The idea examined in this source can be included in the research paper since it provides a clear analysis of metaphors and their meaning in the context of the appearance and manners of Updike’s characters.
Blodgett, Harriet. “Updike’s ‘A&P’”. Contemporary Literary Criticism, vol.61, no.4, 2003.
Referring to this academic source, Sammy has a symbolic role of a proverbial knight who sicks to be a hero in the shining knight’s equipment. Sirens’ metaphor comes from the in-text description of the leading girl with the ocean-related thematic using the sun, salt, blue colors, and bathing dress appearance. The article proposes ocean symbolism as a reference to John Updike’s marine imagery from the Atlantic and Pacific market. This is evidence of the author’s uniqueness in terms of the language, specific topics, and narration that will be examined in the research paper.
This article indicates the ocean symbolism, which is mainly used to outline a more detailed portrait of the girl and underline Sammy’s comparisons and associations rather than decorate the main text. The examined article provides a basis for further discussion of Updike’s specification in narration style and literary tools used in the form of metaphors for characters’ description rather than for stylistic purposes. In addition, Blodgett outlines marine thematic metaphors as a unique feature of Updike, which characterizes his style not only in terms of A&P story but as the author’s individual language tool. The source serves as a clear analysis of Updike’s differentiated style and turns of speech followed through the narration, which can be investigated in the paper applying evaluation of the metaphors’ purposes in the text.
Bowers, Terence. The Significance of Sounds in Uplike’s “A&P”. The Explicator, vol.76, no.4, 2019, pp.174-178.
Another literature device used by A&P’s author is based on the significance of sounds constantly mentioned during the story. This article considers John Updike’s narration to focus on the acoustic expressions and sounds’ symbolism to provide a better description of feelings, emotions, and events experienced by Sammy. According to Bowers, Updike uses the sounds to accompany Sammy’s thoughts and narration as a vital tool for a story’s visual expression.
This academic analysis considers literary language used by Updike, focusing on sound interpretation in comparison to the traditional short prose stylistic approach. The author of the article argues that sounds in A&P provide additional realistic ideas to the plot by focusing readers on the real-life concept of the situation described in work. Bowers proposes the significance of sound imitation and its impact on the appearance over the story as one of Updike’s literary tools, which can be deeply analyzed in the research paper as Updike’s unique language. In addition, further discussions in the research may refer to this work in terms of the meaningful details provided for description rather than just for text decoration in A&P.
Dessner, Lawrence. “Irony and Innocence in John Updike’s ‘A&P’”. Studies in Short Fiction, vol.25, no.3, 1988.
Dessner states that metaphor is not the only literature device applied by John Updike in the story narration. John Updike’s work received many comments and criticism from both public and experts. The highlighted gender characteristics that take place during the story, their differences and similarities can be verified and analyzed by the reader. Therefore, the version about the feministic approach cannot be entirely denied since it opens additional characteristics of the cashier Sammy. In addition, the classicism perception is also reasonable and well-presented in the text.
Classism clearly outlines the differences between what is allowed and what is not allowed. This border between classes becomes more significant over the years. Due to each character’s different classes, actions, and behavior, Sammy’s rebellion is even more noticeable. It can be interpreted as an act of classism and the dominance of muscularity. However, despite the opposing sides of the story’s interpretation, the main hero shows a sense of loneliness, disappointment, and embarrassment since he has changed his own life under the influence of the surrounding people. These wrongly interpreted conditions and surplus of the self-confidence owned by Sammy caused dramatic consequences for the individual who found himself in the world other than the girls’ one right after quitting the magazine under the influence of emotions that took control over him. Classism as a theme that mainly describes each character’s personality will be described in the research based on the literary methods used to make the reader identify the class differences among characters.
Flajasar, Jiri. Suburban Identity in the Poetry of John Updike. Prague Journal of English Studies, vol. 8, no.1, 2019, pp. 35-54.
Referring to Flajasar, the metaphoric evaluation of the imagined story and real-life situations can be observed through the whole story. It is mainly based on the suburban identity, which covers many social topics such as social classicism. The article depicts that John Updike’s story-telling style is full of these kinds of comparisons in the context of realism used as a creative direction of a story. This source analyses social boundaries and their impact on the devices used by Updike in the text to deliver the sense of social norms and pressures that surround Sammy and the girls. Flajasar examines the A&P story from the sociological point of view by focusing on the classism topic previously discussed in other analyses.
This academic source recognizes the realistic style of story-telling by excluding the idea of artistic expressions and metaphoric comparisons used with the aim to embellish the text and description of the characters’ appearance. The article can be cited in the research work due to its suburban identification idea in metaphoric expressions that reveals realism and profound significance of the realistic view of the situation. The evidence provided in this resource can be further evaluated in the context of the research paper under the idea of the literary language and methods used by Updike.
Works Cited
Aguiar, Christian. Living class in John Updike’s “A&P”. The Explicator, vol.78, no. 2, 2020, pp. 58-61.
Blodgett, Harriet. “Updike’s ‘A&P’”. Contemporary Literary Criticism, vol.61, no.4, 2003.
Bowers, Terence. The Significance of Sounds in Uplike’s “A&P”. The Explicator, vol.76, no.4, 2019, pp.174-178.
Dessner, Lawrence. “Irony and Innocence in John Updike’s ‘A&P’”. Studies in Short Fiction, vol.25, no.3, 1988.
Flajasar, Jiri. Suburban Identity in the Poetry of John Updike. Prague Journal of English Studies, vol. 8, no.1, 2019, pp. 35-54.