短篇小说论文.docx

短篇小说论文.docx

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短篇小说论文

PaperofShortStoryReadingonthethemeof“A&P”

Headline:

AllChoicesHaveaConsequence

Studentnumber:

201205340114

Class:

2012级10班

Name:

田金芳

10thJanuary,2015

Abstract:

Allofthemaincharactersinthestorymustmakeachoiceandenduretheconsequenceofthatchoicewhenconstantcollisionbetweenthenewideasandconventionalonesgenerated.JohnUpdikeillustratesSammyandthethreeyounggirlsarerepresentativesoftherebelliousyouth,whileothersareontherigidelders’side.Onbehalfdifferentside,oncetheyhavemadetheirownchoicebetweentraditionandnewthings,thestorybegantotakesplace.IthinkSometimesweneedtochallengethetraditionalpatternsandmakechoicesthatletususeourpotentialaspossibleaswecan.Onceachoiceismade,we'reallresponsibleforourownchoices.

Keywords:

Choice,consequence,Sammy,collision,rebellion,tradition

Ⅰ.Abriefintroductiontothe“A&P”

“A&P"isaninitiationnovelwrittenbyJohnUpdikein1961,whichistoldfromthe firstpersonpointofview ofSammy.”A&P",originallypublishedin TheNewYorker onJuly22,1961,alsolaterappearedinthecollectionPigeonFeathers.Ithasbeenwidelyanthologizedandisgenerallyconsideredtobeaclassic.M.GilbertPortercalledthetitularA&P"thecommondenominatorofmiddle-classsuburbia,anappropriatesymbolformassethicofaconsumer-conditionedsociety."AccordingtoPorter,whenthemaincharacterchoosestorebelagainsttheA&P,healsorebelsagainstthisconsumer-conditionedsociety,andinsodoinghe"haschosentolivehonestlyandmeaningfully."Aswiththis,A&Pisworthyanalyzing,especiallyfromchoiceswhencharactersmakechoicesbetweenindividualnewconceptandconventionalones.

Thesettingofthestoryisinasmallquiettown,northofBostonwheremostofthecustomersareconservative.Theprotagonist,Sammy,ateenageclerkinanA&Pgrocery,isworkingatthecashregisteronahotsummerdaywhenthreegirlswalkintoagrocerystorewearingonlytheirbathingsuitstopurchaseajarofherringsnacks.HeandhiscolleagueStokesiewhohasgotmarriedandhastwobabiesareattracteddeeplybythreegirls.Sammynoticesineverydetailofthegirls’physicalappearance,fromthetextureandpatternsoftheirbathingsuitstothedifferentboundariesoftheirtanlines.Justthen,themanagerLengel,camein,henoticedandembarrassedthreegirlsandtoldthattheyshouldbe"decentlydressed"whentheyenterthestore.Offendedbythemanager'sdisregardforthethreecustomers'dignity,Sammyquitshisjob.

ThestoryendssadlywithSammystandingaloneintheparkinglotandfeelinghisstomachkindoffellashefelthowhardtheworldwasgoingtobetomehereafterwhenhefindsthegirlshaveleftlong.

Ⅱ.TheanalysisofthemeofA&P

FromwhatIunderstandafterreadingthisshortintuitionnovelandaccessingtosomerelevantinformation,Iholdthatthethemeofstoryisthechoiceandconsequencebetweennewideasandconventionalonesandtheyneedmakechoice.Oncemade，oneneedstotakeresponsibilityforthechoiceheorshemakeswhateveritbadorgood.

Inordertodeeplydigofthemeofthestory,let’sfirsttakealookattheenvironmentaroundthisstory."A&P"waswrittenin1961whentheAmericanisaturbulenttime.Thecivilmovement,sexrevolution,thewarversusVietnam,thecoldwarandcollisionoffamilysystemsoccurredatthesametime.Duringthisperiod（the1950sand'60s），conservativedressmirroredconservativesocialvalues.InthosedaysinAmerica,peoplebyandlargeconformedandwereexpectedtoconform.Conformitywasameasureofpopularityaswellasameasureofmoralrightness.However,thereisanewgenerationofyouthwhorebellingagainstoldideas.Inthestory,wecanseetheclashbetweenthemisthesameasthebattlebetweenthesetwosidesinthe1960s.

Thus,livinginatraditionalandunconventionalcoexistperiod，Lengelandothercustomerschoosetoconformtraditionarereluctanttoinnovateandchange.WhenLengelcomesintothestoreafter“hagglingwithatruckfullofcabbages,”andheis“abouttoscuttleintothatdoormarkedMANAGER,”hecouldhaveignoredthethreegirls.Instead,hemakesthechoicetoconfrontthegirlsinfrontofSammy.Lengel’schoicetoconfrontthegirlshastheunforeseenconsequenceoflosinganemployeewhenSammyresignsinprotest.MaybeUpdikeusestheroleoftheyplaytosatirizetheconservatives.Thisserious,rigidmanisactingasthemoralsupervisorandauthoritymaintainer.Althoughconformtothecustomssetbythesocietyisveryimportant,butsomechangesisinevitable.Asweknow,theworldisconstantlychanging,so,insteadofdenying,weshouldlearntoacceptthenewthings.What’smore,conventionalmindsarealwayswrongaboutpivotmomentsinanation'shistory.

Bycontrast,thechoicesofSammyandthegirlsinbathingsuitsrepresentarebellionagainstconformism.Thethreegirlsmadethechoiceofgoingtothegrocerystoreintheirbathingsuitsratherthannormaldressing,especiallyQueenie,withher“longwhiteprima-donnalegs”,standsoutasanonconformistandanindicationofherindifferencetothetraditionalsocialvalues.Nevertheless,becauseoftheirchoicetoviolatecommunitystandards,theysufferembarrassmentbybeingcondemnedbyanauthorityfigure.WhenQueeniedefendsherselfagainstLengelbyinsisting,“Wearedecent,”sheisonlytryingtogetoutofanembarrassingsituation.Whiletheothergirlsseemawkwardandabashed,Queenieisundauntedbythedisapprovingglancesoftheothershoppersandtheeagergazesofthemaleemployees.ThegirlshaveaprofoundtransformativeeffectonthemenintheA&P,especiallySammy.

Thoughmanycharactersmakechoicesthroughoutthestory,Sammyisobligedtomakeapainfuldilemma.Sammy,thenarratorof“A&P,”isusedtobeingasarcasticdisaffectedteenagerwithahealthyinterestintheoppositesexandakeenobservationalsense,whereasQueenieandherfriendssimplyignorethoserules.AsSammyapproachesadulthood,healsohastofacetheconsequencesofhisactionsmoredirectly.

Afteranembarrassingencounterwiththethreegirlsandhismanager,hehasthechoiceofpretendingnothinghadhappened,ordoingsomethingwhichhebelievesisright.WhenLengeltrytopersuadehim，Sammysaysthat“It’strue,Idon’t.Butitseemstomethatonceyoubeginagestureit’sfatalnottogothroughwithit”.Sammyneedstoconsiderhisconsequencebeforemakingthedecisionofquitting.Oneconsequenceofquittinghisjobisitcausesastraininhisrelationshipwithhisparents.Another,moreobviousconsequenceisthathemayhaveahardlifetolive.

Whenhechoosestoquithisjob,Anyway,IthinkthathedidnotnecessarilywantimpressQueenie,butinstead,hewentgetherwayofliving.Foronething,Updikeusesthefluorescentlightofthesupermarkettoemphasizeaboringfutureandthereisnoexcitementormysteryinvolved.Foranother,heusesthesunlighttorepresentthenever-endingopportunityoffreedom.So,whenSammyquitshisjobandenterstheparkinglot,heseesthevastsunshineineverydirection.Thisissupposedtosymbolizeanewbeginningandthenew-foundfreedomtotakehislifeinanydirectionhechooses.

Ⅲ.Conclusion

Inconclusion,everychoicehasanaftereffect.A&Pisastoryreflectingthesocialrealityofthattimewhenfolkshavemadehardchoiceinthestruggleofpromotingthesocietygoingforward.UpdikeusesthecharactersofSammy,thethreegirlsinbathingsuits,andLengelinthestorytoshowhowimportantitistocarefullycontemplatetheconsequencesoftheirchoiceswhenbeinaturnofoldandnewtimes.Intoday’ssociety,itisalsothesame.Asanindependentperson,oneneedkeeppacewiththetimeswhenitkeepschanging.Thewordchoicesseemnotjustcorrectbutalsoinevitable.

Inotherwords,eventuallySammyseemstothinkthathehaslearnedalessoninthepainfulwaysoftheworld.Trytothinkaboutthis,whatisSammy’sfuturelifeifSammydidn’tchoosetoresign?

Maybehestillcomplaintabouteverythinginlifeasacashier.Ithinksometimesoneneeddeterminewhatisgoodenoughandtakethefirststeptowardsthat.That'sallthatonehastodo.

Reference:

[1]WanFangDataanalysisofA&P（

[2]GooglethemeofA&P（

[3]SpraknoteA&P（

[4]ShmoopEditorialTeam."A&P." 11Nov.2008.Web.9Jan.2015.

（

[5]LitCharts.JohnUpdike’sA&P:

Analysis&Theme（

[6]Wikipedia,A&P（http:

//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/）

[7]EnotesA&PbyJohnUpdike（）

[8]谭占海.ThePleasure-instructionFunctionofLiterature——AViewfromtheThemeof“A&P”.贵州省外语学会2008年学术研讨会论文

[9]赵婧鹏，马丽.TheContrastbetweenSocialCriterionandIndividualRequestinA&P.分类号：

I106.4语文学刊2007年第8期

[10]哈旭娴,直觉与习俗的撞击———简析厄普代克的短篇小说《A&P》主题.江苏广播电视大学学报Vol.13No.52002年10月中图分类号:

I712.074　

[11]张军丽赵雪当浪漫遭遇现实时虽败犹荣——简析《A&P》中萨米反叛性格的成因北京联合大学师范学院

姓名：

田金芳学号：

2012053401142012级10班

ADayofMyLife

Ontheendlessgrassland,birdsaresinginginthebluesky,smallflocksofsheeporgoatsarebeingherdedbyridersonhorseback,flowersarestokingournoses,andastreamisflowingunderthebluesky.Iamintoxicateddeeplyinbeautifulgrasslands.NowIfeelstrong.Free.Morefreethanever.

“Maytheblueskyandthewhitecloudsbemywitnesses,forIwillspendtherestofmylifelovingandcherishingyou.”amansaidtome.ItotallybelievethatinfrontofthemanisthepersonIlike,andhelovedpe