A&P Literary Criticism

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Dissecting the Subconscious of the Irrational Teenager The short story “A&P” by John Updike can be thoroughly dissected through the psychoanalytical approach. This approach is based on an understanding of human disposition. It can further be broken down into Sigmund Freud’s three fundamental aspects of the human psyche, in which most processes formulate from the unconscious mind, all human behaviour is driven by sexuality and many ambitions and recollections are internally contained due to social taboos associated with sexual impulses. “A&P” by John Updike is about a young man named Sammy, who to secondary characters spontaneously quits his job. However, under the psychoanalytical lens, the reader is able to truly understand the main character’s motivation to quit through his inner desires about the three bikini-clad girls, and interactions and thoughts on Stokesie and Mr. Lengel. The first psychic zone of the psychoanalytical lens, which is known as the ID, provides the reader with a personal outlook when understanding Sammy’s motivation to quit. Specifically this is seen within the aggressions and desires he harnesses. His aggressions can be found to relate back to his unhappiness when working at A&P, while his pleasures are found in his fantasies of being appreciated by the three girls from the beach. Nevertheless, to truly understand how internal aggressions and desires are shown to lead to Sammy’s rash decision, one must first learn the role the ID pertains to all literary creations. It is the source of the libido, or fundamental pleasures, and many theologians compare the ID to the devil. With this knowledge, one can see that ultimately, Sammy makes his decision because the pleasure he could receive by gaining the three girls’ attentions outweigh the negative consequences of losing his job. Furthermore, Sammy’s sexual desire for Queenie is shown very
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