Essay Liberated: Role and Step

Submitted By Saltnpepper1
Words: 1049
Pages: 5
Open Document
Diana Sanchez
May 29,2013
Short Fiction

Liberated

Boris Kulovis’s picture at initial fleeting impression depicts an enormous foot uprooted from the ground, but upon further examination it is noticeable that the foot moves in a forward direction dislodging all the branches to the point of even removing the top layer of the ground. This in particular then suggests a powerful and strong step forward. Figuratively, this strong giant step forward jumps out of the page immediately, and it is hard to ignore, yet abstract, to me the branches of the foot represent the several personal struggles that exist within human beings personal lives. These personal struggles or obstacles can be minuscule like the smaller branches attached at the end of the bottom of the foot, or the obstacles can be far more complex and similar to the larger branches attached to the foot are thus more difficult to uproot. Collectively, we can extrapolate that this enormous giant step forward frames an underlying theme of liberation. Liberation of any impediments that hold us back not in the literal sense as the illustration points out but figuratively. This interpretation leads to my discussions of John Updike's A&P. In this story, initially the narrator Sammy stuck and bounded by his social conditions makes a powerful step forward in his life, metaphorically uprooting his branches and then in turn liberated from his restricted strata of society by the end of the story.

People held back by circumstances prevent themselves from reaching their fullest potential. We hold back from living with full intention, carrying out desires and true feelings for numerous reasons as the numerous branches represents in the picture shows. We neglect these desires because, like Sammy, we become trapped in social roles and circumstances. Social conditions makes it difficult to break out of social roles such as job duties, family duties and other roles because as Kulovis illustration shows is hard to break away and take the strong step forward away from entrapment and towards desires because these social conditions bond to numerous branches as mentioned previously. We see how ingrained the branches are because there are pieces of rocks in the air cause by the momentum. Also, the strength metaphorically speaking about inner strength require to propel the step forward. Additionally, the small crevices suggest how imbedded we can become within social roles and that itself can be confining. The illustration is nevertheless hopeful because we see the magnitude of one step forward. Merely one step was able to remove the branches, weaken the several other branches and create crippling crevices that suggest that perhaps another step in the same direction can offer complete freedom. It is hopeful and optimistic unlike the fate of Sammy at the end of the story that is not particularly optimistic. However, when Sammy impulsively quits his job this impulsiveness provides Sammy with some sense of short-lived personal satisfaction. Although is not quite clear what he will do next, quitting impulsively gave him a temporary form of escape from otherwise the confinement of a register drawer in A&P.

When Sammy a clerk in an A & P grocery, is working the cash register on a summer day three young woman enter barefoot only in swimsuits, to purchase snacks. When we read the story, we see that Sammy has conformed to his role of cash register because he is highly nonchalant, sarcastic and expresses patronizing superiority towards the people who shop at A&P. He is also particularly condescending of the girls initially as he expressed a snarky remark “in walk these girls”( Updike 1) but then something changes, and he fascinated by them, he begins to lust for them. This is bizarre because initially confident. We notice it when he makes fun of one customer whom he described as “ a witch about fifty with rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows, and I know it made her day to
Show More

Related Documents: Essay Liberated: Role and Step

Feminist Analysis In The Story Of An Hour And The Awakening

wouldn’t be happy about, which is writing or working, because she finds it to be a source of buoyancy. The narrator feels liberated and in control of herself as she writes without having to inform her husband about it. Moreover, Gilman’s motive for writing this quote is so that she can show that women are kept from doing what they are passionate about because their husband plays the role of an obstacle, someone who keeps their wife from having or maintaining their liberal…

Words 791 - Pages 4

Ransom Essay Year 12 May 05 2012

Both Priam and Achilles are liberated as a result of what Priam does. Discuss. Edward Shen, 12K In David Malouf’s Ransom, King Priam of Troy is adamant to restore Achilles’ humanity in the aftermath of his savage desecration of Hector’s body. For Priam, the only method to cease his unending cycle of barbarity and wrath is to venture into Achilles’ camp, ‘with no sign on [him] of royal dignity, and to ultimately’ provide Achilles with the opportunity to ‘simply be a man’. By venturing into a newfound…

Words 1460 - Pages 6

Examples Of Father Son Relationship In Night By Elie Wiesel

relationships, but a relationship between a father and son is strong. Elie Wiesel wrote this book to tell his story and to tell about the struggles him and his father had faced during the Holocaust. Sadly, his father could not live to see the day they got liberated. In the novel Night by Elie Wiesel, the author uses irony to show the strength of a father and son relationship. Elie and his father really look out for each other. One way they show a father and son relationship is by helping each other. Elie…

Words 391 - Pages 2

Marriage Sexual Revolution

young age due to economic necessity and societal expectations. However, due to the sexual revolution and feminist ideologies of the 1960s and 70s gender roles were being challenged. The median age at marriage began to rise (“The History of Marriage”). Writers began to question societal expectations of women and films discussed ideas of gender roles and sexuality within marriage. Women began to consider individual personhood and freedoms apart from being a mother, wife, and homemaker. In the 1950s…

Words 696 - Pages 3

Parkinson's Law

Establishing a buffer or transition time will have a profound impact on a health care organization. What’s more, with quantum mechanics and Parkinson’s Law on your side, this is a bold step you can take today. Recall, Parkinson’s Law suggests that work will expand or contract to fill the amount of time available for it. As Peters and colleagues (Peters, et al, 1984) point out Parkinson’s Law reflects that fact that “people choose their effort levels to be appropriate to the tasks at hand and the…

Words 500 - Pages 2

Kurt Lewin's Change Theory

collaborative and a participative environment which applies the concepts of group theory on an individual (Mcgarry, Cashin, & Fowler, 2012). It is therefore sometimes referred to as “stand alone theory” and the concepts which were conceived by Lewin and the steps are unfreezing, moving, and…

Words 882 - Pages 4

Dbq Vietnam War

Harry S. Truman 1945- 1953 The United States entered the Vietnam war in a series of steps between 1950and 1965. Moreover, in May 1950 President Harry S. Truman authorized a modest program of economic and military aid to the French who were fighting to obtain control of their Indochina colony including Laos in Cambodia as well as Vietnam. Dwight Eisenhower 1953- 1961 In February 1954 President Eisenhower refused to commit American troops the Franco Vietnamese war. Similarly, he stated, “I cannot conceive…

Words 1102 - Pages 5

Comparing Women In Beowulf And The Canterbury Tales

Women are meant to be seen but not heard, as decreed by man for generations. However, in medieval literature a shift can be observed. This shift is the beginning of the redefinement of women and their role in society. Literature served to establish a standard that women were meant to follow. Women who failed to abide to the restricting mold, were ultimately useless. This duality can be observed by the female characters in Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales. In medieval literature, only women confined…

Words 878 - Pages 4

Sexism In The Color Purple

way we see them in society. In the Novel “The Color Purple”, the author Alice Walker, uses common examples of gender roles to present a sexist setting. Walker expresses the feelings of the female characters who are mistreated by men . Celie the main character in the novel, a young African- American female who struggles with happiness in her life , was sexually abused by her step-father and later sold to a man by the name of Mr. After being sold to Mr., Celie had became a maid in his household cooking…

Words 802 - Pages 4

Flappers Research Paper

Their portrayal in popular culture emphasized their strength, making them symbols of female empowerment. Overall, flappers played a crucial role in reshaping traditions during the 1920s.The cultural legacy of flappers is multifaceted and they influenced aspects of fashion, social attitudes, entertainment and feminist discourse.The way they ditched their corsets and cut their hair short displayed…

Words 930 - Pages 4