In The Snob John goes to a store with the girl he loves; Grace. John sees his dad, and wants to leave the store with Grace because he does not want his dad to meet her. John feels embarrassed about how his dad is dressed and does not want Grace too see him. John’s dad sees them both in the store and eventually walks out without turning back to see John. Next John confronts Grace about how he portrays her as a snob, because she think she is better than everyone else, and she is high class and John and his family are not, and have had to work for everything they have today. John believes that Grace will not like his family and that they will not live up to her standards. Based on my personal experience I can relate to the moment John saw his dad and felt embarrassed about it. I feel this way when I go out with my parents sometimes and they do things to try and embarrass me or go out dressed funny. Sometimes this makes me feel awkward or embarrassed to be seen with them, because I act and dress a lot different than they do, so I sometimes feel weird if I go out with them and they dress funny. This also relates to how John felt that moment at the store because if I go out and see people I know I sometimes feel like the will question who I’m with or what they look like.
The topic of family and being embarrassed is present in the text The Snob, because when John is in the department store with Grace he sees his father. John instantly tries not to look up and have his dad notice him. John feels very awkward and embarrassed by the way he sees his father dressed because he does not want Grace to see his father dressed like that; because he fears she might judge him. John insists to Grace that they leave the store, but Grace wants to stay. After a while John’s dad eventually notices John and Grace, and after checking out he walks out of the store and does not turn his back to come see John, because she feels sad and embarrassed that John didn’t come introduce Grace to him. John confronts Grace about the situation and how he feels about her and he tells Grace that she is kind of snobby and that she acts and has a different lifestyle than he does, and he feels she might leave him because of that.
Based on what happened in The Snob and my own personal experiences, I feel that many other people feel the same way. There are many reasons why people may feel this way. It could be because someone may feel embarrassed for their friends or family to meet someone they are friends with or are dating. They may feel the same way John did about his family compared to Grace, or they may feel the complete opposite. They may feel that they are not good enough compared to others based on how they look, dress or how they live. This may cause them to hide some those things by dressing a certain way when with that person or people. It may cause them to spend hours getting ready to try and make themselves look their best so they can impress people. They may also not invite people over but rather go to someone else’s house or a different location to avoid going to their house because they are embarrassed of how they live. They may also avoid contact with their parents when around these people because like in John’s situation; they may feel embarrassed and do not want the people they are around to meet or see who they are.
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