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Post by harleen5 on Sept 25, 2015 0:58:57 GMT
Characterization is used in A & P to show that Sammy is a judgmental and observant, yet somewhat immature teenage boy. Sammy, the narrator of this short story, notes every aspect of the three girls, from their attire to their hair. As he watches, he also makes many assumptions about their daily life. For example, Sammy speculates that the head girl, “Queenie”, must be rich because she is purchasing a jar of herring snacks. He also constantly refers to the customers as “sheep” and “house-slaves”, allowing the reader to see that he does not think highly of the shoppers. Yet Sammy’s keen observations and speculations of the three girls appear to be a bit obsessed, as he watches them from the moment they enter to the moment they leave. At the end, he quits his job, as if to seem heroic to the three girls. This also demonstrates the narrator’s immaturity, as he did not realize what the real world entails.
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Post by lisasortino on Sept 25, 2015 1:26:28 GMT
Harleen I could not agree with you more how the characterization in "A&P" leads the audience to view the main character, Sammy, as a judgement boy. The characterization also shows that Sammy is very observant and aware of his surroundings. Both of these character traits of Sammy can lead the audience to see Sammy as a rather lonely and insecure character. The audience can make this assumption through the characterization that shows that Sammy is judgmental and observant. Sammy can be seen to be a lonely teenage boy because it seems like the only life he knows is that of working at the A&P. This is seen in the story when Sammy describes the girls coming around the far aisle, around the light bulbs, records, candy bars, plastic toys and so on. Sammy knows the store so well he knows what things are in which specific aisles. He can also be seen as a lonely character because his whole entire time at work consists of him looking for the girls. And when he does see the girls he stares at them, watching their every move but doing it from afar. The characterization also shows that Sammy is insecure because he calls the customers at A&P "sheep" which show that he does not respect them but even more so that he is very quick to judge them. This is seen throughout the whole story when Sammy is judging the girls. He points out their every flaw. Sammy may be doing this because he feels insecure about himself and wants to make other people feel insecure too, in his own mind. Also he might be very quick to judge others so that he is not that one being judged.
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