One of the captivating aspects of this story is the way in which it reveals the character of Sammy to us through how he looks at the world and observes objects. It is important to remember that the narration of this story is in the first person, so we see things through Sammy’s eyes, and often what he sees is more a reflection on him that it is on what he is actually describing.
In the story, there are many types of literary techniques which are obvious. However, the three that stand out among the rest are the foreshadowing, the irony in the resolution, and symbolism in the short story. Firstly, the foreshadowing can be seen in two ways. First, it can be noted in terms of how the author uses a rather capturing opening of the story which gives a clue to the reader that something is bound to happen in the story and on that day in Sammy’s rather regular life.
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The other two literary techniques implemented in the short story is the use of irony which can be found in the conclusion of A&P and the symbolism. The irony of consequence is seen when Sammy quits his job for the girls when the girls do not even realize that he has done that.”She kind of led them, the other two peeking around and making their shoulders round. She didn’t look around, not this queen, she just walked straight on slowly, on these long white primadonna legs. She came down a little hard on her heels as if she didn’t walk in bare feet that much, putting down her heels and letting the weight move along to her toes as if she was testing the floor with every step, putting a little deliberate extra action into it.”Let us remember that Sammy is an immature male.
We look at how Sammy looks at the Queenie’s “white primadonna legs” and the way that he focuses on them. However, what is also interesting is the way in which he also shows how observant he is and picks up on details such as the way that she comes down “a little hard on her heels.” This shows that Sammy is not just a teenage boy but also somebody who has an eye for detail and is more observant than the average person.
