Analysis of point of view in "A&P" and "A Rose for Emily"
Sumeira Taqui
Mr. Hainline / English 1302
February 28, 2005
Essay 2 final draft
The Influence of Point of View on a Story
The beliefs and feelings of a reader about certain characters or events in a story largely depend on who is telling the tale and how it is been told. Each story according to its theme, setting, characters, and plot development, requires a specific kind of narrative point of view. Assertion of each kind of point of view is going to have some advantages and disadvantages. However, the writer has to choose the most suitable one in which its advantages and benefits overcome the disadvantages. The point of view is a significant part in a story, and it plays an important role in the development of the story and the presentation of its characters.
In John Updikes' "A & P" the narrator of the story, Sammy, is its main character. Sammy is telling his own story himself. The benefits of the first person point of view in "A & P" are that we understand the character and personality of Sammy more clearly. The clear explanations and detailed portrayal of girls, efficiently demonstrate the physical attraction of Sammy towards the girls. The conduct that Sammy relates to the place and people moving around in A & P indicates Sammy's boredom and frustration from working in such a place. "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 and muttering "let me see, there was a third thing, began with A, asparagus, no, ah, yes, applesauce!" or whatever they do mutter"(16). Sammy opens his mind to us, giving his views about the atmosphere and the people moving around him. He seems to be a little harsh on people and things around him. For example, he says about one of the customers that "She gives me a little snort in passing, if she'd been born at the right time they would have burned her over in Salem" (14). In a distinguished way, by the use of specific words and relating them to
Mr. Hainline / English 1302
February 28, 2005
Essay 2 final draft
The Influence of Point of View on a Story
The beliefs and feelings of a reader about certain characters or events in a story largely depend on who is telling the tale and how it is been told. Each story according to its theme, setting, characters, and plot development, requires a specific kind of narrative point of view. Assertion of each kind of point of view is going to have some advantages and disadvantages. However, the writer has to choose the most suitable one in which its advantages and benefits overcome the disadvantages. The point of view is a significant part in a story, and it plays an important role in the development of the story and the presentation of its characters.
In John Updikes' "A & P" the narrator of the story, Sammy, is its main character. Sammy is telling his own story himself. The benefits of the first person point of view in "A & P" are that we understand the character and personality of Sammy more clearly. The clear explanations and detailed portrayal of girls, efficiently demonstrate the physical attraction of Sammy towards the girls. The conduct that Sammy relates to the place and people moving around in A & P indicates Sammy's boredom and frustration from working in such a place. "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 and muttering "let me see, there was a third thing, began with A, asparagus, no, ah, yes, applesauce!" or whatever they do mutter"(16). Sammy opens his mind to us, giving his views about the atmosphere and the people moving around him. He seems to be a little harsh on people and things around him. For example, he says about one of the customers that "She gives me a little snort in passing, if she'd been born at the right time they would have burned her over in Salem" (14). In a distinguished way, by the use of specific words and relating them to