Queenie in “A & P” Essay Example
Queenie in “A & P” Essay Example

Queenie in “A & P” Essay Example

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  • Pages: 3 (718 words)
  • Published: October 5, 2017
  • Type: Paper
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Flat characters are minor characters in a work of fiction who do not undergo substantial change or growth in the course of a story. A minor character in a story is not the leader of the story, they are a supporting character to the protagonist and they give a contrast to the protagonist in a story. In the story "A & P" by John Updike, the story begins by illustrating Sammy as a young cashier who is cynical and loathsome of his current situation. He is infatuated by a pretty young girl, the minor character, who is referred to as "Queenie. Queenie is very important in this story because of the conflicts she causes. Queenie enters the story when she walks into the local A & P grocery store with her friends wearing nothing but bathing suits.

This acti

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on causes a stir and creates the main conflict of the story. Queenie is a Static character in this story because from the moment she enters the story from the moment she leaves she does not change. A main theme in this story is consequences. Queenie's actions throughout the story will affect her own consequences as well as other characters in the story.

This minor characters presence in the story is important to the conflicts and themes in the story because they mold the story better. The minor character in "A & P", Queenie, is a flat character. She does not undergo change or grow through out the story and she only supports Sammy by creating a conflict so he can quit his job. Flat characters are important because it adds depth to the story just like i

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"A & P". Queenie is also a static character.

A static character in a story never changes. A dynamic character will change throughout the story.Sammy, our narrator, is the dynamic character in the story. Sammy changes from the beginning to the end of the story.

By the end of the story he has decided to quit his job to impress a girl. Queenie never changes in the story. She enters the A & P wearing a bathing suit and does not care what anyone else thinks about it. Even when the store manager yells at her, "We want you decently dressed when you come in here.

" (P20), she stands proud and talks back to him saying, "We are decent. "(P20), in a snappy tone.You can tell by the tone of her voice that she's as proud as when she first walked in the store. So shes not the one who changes, but instead Sammy does when he quits his job for his principles.

Queenie is important to the story's conflict and theme because she creates them. Queenie causes the main conflict when she walks into the A & P. The manager of the A & P yells at the young girls about their attire when the are being rung up by the Sammy. At the end of the story, Sammy stands up for himself by exclaiming he quits as the girls are walking out of the door.

He does this because he hopes the girls will see him as a hero. As a result he loses his job and never gets the girl. This is a consequence that was laid down by Queenie presence in

the story. Sammy never would have lost his job if Queenie had never walked into the store. Sammy's family says him getting swooned by Queenie and him quitting his job was the sad part of the story.

But apparently he did not think so because he felt justified and thought the outcome was a positive one.I thought Sammy wanted to quit his job for a while, but never had a good enough reason to because he thought the customers pushing carts were "sheep" and he did not have a lot of respect for Mr. Lengel. Considering his life being uneventful because he had so much time labeling the customors as clueless, ignorant, and lost when he was doing his job, it rises a question if he was going to school or not. The story took place on a Thursday afternoon, so maybe he wasn't even going to school.

So, just from Queenie, Sammy was a more developed character just by having Queenie as a minor character.

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