Compare and Contrast: A&P and Everyday Use Essay

A& adenylic acidP is a short score written by American writer John Updike. The story takes place during the pass in a small New England town where everything seems ordinary and gray. The story stars Sammy a nineteen-year-old boy working the checkout line of grocery come in by the name of A&P. Sammy is working one twenty-four hours when in walks three teenage little girls, wearing solitary(prenominal) their bathing suits. He is quickly infatuated by the scene for it is non one he comes across to often and begins to watch the girls closely. Sammy pays close aid to the appearance of the girls grant each one according to how he views them, there is Plaid the lumpy one who got her name due to her swimsuit, Big Tall black-footed albatross Goony who he describes as attractive but falling short to Queenie, the girl who Sammy seems to be most infatuated with, she is the most striking out of the fate getting her name due to world the leader of the group.Sammy pays close attenti on to the three girls all the way to the point where they in conclusion come to his immortalise where they ar confronted by his human beingsager Lengel a very conservative man who ask the girls to come with their shoulders covered the next time they wish to visualize his store. This sparks Sammy to quit and to chase the girls outside where to his surprise are gone.Everyday substance abuse is a short story written by American power Alice Walker. The story takes place in the late 1900s in the siemens in a planetary house that was rebuilt after it was burned down by a ferocious fire. The story stars mum a big-boned adult female with hands that are rough from years of physical labor that is despicable and un educate due to never being given the opportunity to buck out of her rural behavior, she is also the storys narrator. mom and her daughter Maggie who is shy and self conscience due to her being burned and disfigure by the fire that took down their house wait outside their dwelling for the arrival of her older daughter Dee who is the exact opposite of Maggie being that she is educated and quite confident.Dee arrives at the home of her mother with not only a new man, but a new look, she is very colorful and into her inheritance. Mama, Maggie, Dee, and Dees male friend have dinner in which Dee tells Mama what shes been doing with herself and ends with Dee wanting to leave with the butter churn. The butter churn isnt the only item which Dee would like to leave with, she also wants two quilts make by her ancestors, but Mama says no for they are promised to her sister Maggie. Dee leaves the house outraged telling her mother she doesnt understand her heritage.Two scenes that I feel share a common message is Sammys finding to quit A&P and Mamas decisiveness to not let Dee have her way and give Maggie the quilt. Both characters distinguishable this would be their time to take a stand against something they felt was not right. For Sammy it was a decision driven by his lust for Queenie, for Mama it was finally saying no to the daughter who she feels unappreciated by. Sammys decision ends with him having no job and no women, but a better sense of what he wants in life which is a desire to get away from the average that is his job and town and go out and experience opportunities beyond his limit.Mamas decision had the opposite effect of what Sammys had, she not only grew closer to her daughter Maggie, but she realized that shes happy being the woman she is, she doesnt have to change herself . Mama is proud of her life and of being a practical hardworking woman. Both A&P and Everyday Use are similar in the situation that we have characters struggling to find out what it is they want from their lives, but are different in the sense of what the characters actually realize they want.