"A&P" Question #1
As a male the narrator felt as though he must stand up for the girls in order to be their "unsuspected hero." In society and throughout history males have usually been the providers of their families. They are there in movies to save the day and make woman believe as though they need a man in their life. The narrator wanted to be the man to stand up for the girls. He wanted to show them that he was a "macho" man and could be there for them. He tried to prove that he was not just some kid, but that he was worthy enough to stand up for a girl. In the 1960s when this piece was written it was a society that saw the man of the house as the dominant figure in ones family, as we see today, but not as prominent as in the 1960s. Men were supposed to be the ones that girls looked to for affection and to stand up for them. For example, in movies the "damsels in distress" are those woman who need to be rescued and the hero is the one that comes in and sweeps her off her feet. In this story the narrator sees a moment where he could be a hero to them by quitting his job to prove to them that he thinks his manager was in the wrong. Society and pop culture shape who we are, and as we see in "A&P" it shapes who the narrator becomes. He believes as though to show his masculinity he must quit his job to be a man and hero to the girls.
I agree with what you are saying, I can speak from experience that I have done things to try and impress girls, nothing as serious as quitting a job or anything. I think as time goes by guys try different things to try and impress girls. A lot of the time, though, when we try and do this we usually end up embarassing ourselves. It is strange, though, because we keep on doing it even if it does not work out most of the time.
ReplyDeleteI agree men are most often play the role of "hero" in books and movies alike. These roles may be changing and evolving with society; nevertheless, I think men pride themselves on such roles. They want to be the hero, the provider, the dominate force over women. If a women saved a man from a killer, robber, or other evil force he would feel like he had be de-maculated.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator does try to be the "unsuspected hero", but his efforts go unnoticed. He sacrificed his job and made his future tough, but the girls don't even know of that. I think it says a lot about the pride in men, the "masculinity" that they must show to everyone, women and fellow men included.
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