“a&P” and “Barn Burning”: a Compare and Contrast Essay”

Sammy from John Updikes A&P and Sarty from William Faulkners Barn fire atomic number 18 twain great examples of puppylike people raising their standards and doing what they believe is right. In A&P, Sammy is nineteen years old and works at a local grocery store named the A&P. His life changes the day he quits his job subsequently defending three girls that are called proscribed by Lengel, the manager, for breaking the unwritten dress code. In Barn Burning, Sarty is a ten year old boy who struggles between the comely line of right and wrong when his beat, Abner Snopes, is put on trial for burning down a vitamin B.When his father attempts to burn down another barn, Sarty takes level off and warns the owner. A&P and Barn Burning are short story classics that have many similarities as well as differences. While some(prenominal) Sammy and Sarty are dissatisfied with their intentions of authority, the time periods in which they live are extremely different. A very noticeable similarity is the fact that twain young men are dissatisfied with their authority figures. In the beginning of the stories, genius will see that Sammy and Sarty are not like their main(prenominal) influences. separately young man has a mature understanding of their unfortunate lives and how they mustiness break the mold to better themselves. Stokesie, Sammys friend and co-worker, is twenty 2 years old and married with two kids. His biggest dream is to turn a manager of the A&P someday. Sammy describes Stokesies life as a perfect example of his future if he continues working at the A&P. To him the A&P is a dead end job still in the eyes of his Lengel and his family it is an acceptable future. Lengel is the manager of A&P as well as the towns preacher. He plays an important affair as Sammys authority figure.When Sammy quits, Lengel tries to persuade him to stay and makes it very conduct that leaving the A&P will be a immense mistake. This is an excellent reflection of Sammy s authority figure and the close given(p) ways he must escape. Sartys major authority figure in Barn Burning is his father. Abner is a poor sharecropper who is acerbity towards wealthy plantation owners and has a tendency to destroy their property. Sarty never justifies his fathers actions and is aware that if he allows things to remain the same, he will become a product of his environment.This is his motive for warning Abners next barn burning victim and his chance to move on with his life. The time periods and locations in which A&P and Barn Burning take slur are very different. Sammy lives in a more favorable time in the United States than Sarty. A&P is set in a base town north of Boston, Massachusetts around 1960. At this time, the United States was the main military manufacturer and financial power in the capitalist world. The hipster Movement just started and shocked many traditional families with a vernal way of living. Sarty lives in Mississippi about twenty years afte r the Civil War.Life was tough for Mississippians post Civil War. The Southern states were in debt and devastation from the war was everywhere. Although America was transforming into a more modern boorish in both stories, the time periods in which they live are completely opposite. Sammy and Sarty are two protagonists that have to mature beyond normal heap and experience the real world at tender ages. Each causa is forced to grow up and refine themselves in their darkest hour. Sammy and Sarty are both dissatisfied with their authority figures however, the time periods in which they live take place in different eras.