Society Versus “a & P, ” “a Rose for Emily, ” and “Miss Brill’s” Main Characters

Society Versus “A & P,” “A Rose for Emily,” and “Miss Brill’s” Main Characters The partaking of society is evident in many stories. Often society’s role is especially evident and plays a huge part in a story’s plot. In most situations, a rejection—whether by society or by the main characters themselves—occurs that typically results in complete isolation from the outside world. Such is seen with John Updike’s “A & P,” William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” and Katherine Mansfield’s “Miss Brill,” as the main character is generally has a dispute with society in some way. By analyzing the main characters in these stories, one can come to a conclusion as to how the contrasting of society with the main character gives insight into a character’s thought process and assists in developing him or her. Updike portrays Sammy, the main character in the short story “A & P” as a naïve boy of nineteen who views the people of society, i.e. his customers, as “sheep pushing their carts down the asle” (Updike 226). Part of the irony of the story is the contrast between the ending, where everything seems routine (including the customers), and the beginning, with Sammy’s impulsive decision. He quits his job (he says) in order to present himself as a “hero” to the swimsuit-clad girls who disrupt the usual pattern of the “sheep-like” customers. Sammy metaphorically describes his customers as animals, showing little respect towards them and depicting them as “sheep pushing their carts” and “scared pigs in a chute” (226, 228). In turn, he rejects society’s idea of normalcy and tries to escape it by quitting his job as a cashier at the A & P. As quoted by Corey Evan Thompson, “[Sammy is] a young man who takes full advantage of an opportunity to free himself from the responsibility-filled life that he desperately wants to avoid” (216). One could come to a conclusion that Sammy is portrayed somewhat as a rebel because of his wanting to break away from society and its “normal” behavior. As stated by another critic, “[Sammy] blames the customers of his A & P for being ‘houseslaves’ without any sensitivity to the misfortunes of literal or metaphoric slavery the epithet points to” (Dessner 316). When Queenie and her two friends show up at the store with only bathing suits on, Lengel, Sammy’s boss, chides the girls for their inappropriate attire. This not only mortifies the girls, but it also gives Sammy his long awaited excuse to escape the responsibilities of the real world by quitting his job. He knows he is probably making one of the biggest mistakes of his life, but continues, saying that “once you begin a gesture it’s fatal not to go through with it” (Updike 228). In Sammy’s mind, he believes himself to be a hero to the girls, but in reality, he uses this excuse as a cover for his cowardly behavior of trying to escape society because of its rules and normalcy. Another short story example where society and the main character seem to be at odds with one another is William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily.” After the death of her father, Emily Grierson isolates herself from all of society, never leaving her house. During the time that her father was alive, he never allowed her to have any sort of relations with a man. This irrational behavior of her father seems have somewhat of a domino effect on Emily’s behavior, causing her to go from rejecting men to all of society. Because of this and, “with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her [her father]…” (Faulkner 211). As a result, once it is time to bury her father, she turns away all of her neighbors “who would take him from her” (Scherting 400). Jack Scherting goes on to say that, “the people of Jefferson, in removing his corpse, had robbed her of the only man in her life” (401). In examining the effects of these events in the story, the reader can understand why Emily had isolated herself within the confines of her house and why she had completely rejected society until her death. However, there is one person who seems to end up an exception to this isolation. Shortly after her father’s death, she meets a Yankee by the name of Homer, whom she ends up having an affair with. Homer seems to have trouble with the idea of commitment, as Faulkner states that “he [is] not a marrying man” (213). During this time, her cousins visit her and the reader can only assume that they tried confronting her about the issue of her affair with Homer. Not too long after this event takes place, Emily poisons Homer. Although never explicitly stated within the story, again the reader can come to several conclusions as to what may have triggered such behavior from her. One critic states that, “Emily’s killing of Homer is not due to her blood-thirsty nature, rather it is the result of the southern society,” and continues to say, “Emily’s degradation is a series of consequence of the southern social system [between the] community and [the] individual” (Fang 2). In order to prevent Homer from leaving her because Homer had commitment issues, Emily decides to take things into her own hands and kills him, thus giving a reason as to her rash behavior (Scherting 402). In the story, she conceals his body in a room of her house, and places his decomposing body on a bed. After Emily’s death, the townspeople are able to have access to this room and stumble upon what is left of Homer’s remains as well as a single iron gray hair next to the body, giving the reader the assumption that Emily had at some point slept next to his dead and decomposing corpse. Miss Brill in Katherine Mansfield’s “Miss Brill” can be considered as another main character that seems to struggle with society. It is apparent that throughout the story, Miss Brill has isolated herself from society and the outside world. The reader sees this through her “befriending” of the fox fur she wears during her weekly walk. Mansfield uses Miss Brill to narrate her story and to describe the imagery she sees in her walks. As one hears Miss Brill’s description of the gardens, it is evident that she is detached from the world she lives in. As Miss Brill strolls through the gardens, she gives an objective depiction of the people she sees, i.e. describing several people by the clothing that they wear (Mandel 475). As quoted by Miriam B. Mandel, “As Miss Brill catalogues what she sees, she reduces and dehumanizes it,” and continues by stating that, “Whatever Miss Brill sees, she reduces to the parameters if her own constricted world” (475). Another way she has distanced herself from reality and society is her depiction of the walk, saying, “It was exactly like a play” (Mansfield 233). The author’s clever use of using Miss Brill as her narrator makes the short story more appealing to readers. She provides us with a vivid sense of imagery through the eyes and objectiveness of Miss Brill, making it especially apparent to us as to how she seems to have rejected her society. Sarah Sandly points out that, “[in] short stories such as… ‘Miss Brill’… the narrative is directed either wholly or principally through the consciousness of a main character who is experienced at evading the present reality of a besetting situation that the narrative become about the very process of creating narrative fiction” (qtd. in Shen 192). Because of Miss Brill having (what seems to be) intentionally removed herself from the rest of society, one is unsure whether to feel apathetic or not at her apparent loneliness. Characters always seem to have a problem fitting in with the norms of society, thus, they either reject it or are completely rejected by it in turn. Such is seen with Sammy from
“A & P,” Emily from “A Rose for Emily,” and Miss Brill from “Miss Brill.” Contrasts like these between the main character and society help to develop not only the story itself, but the main character as well, making him or her more round instead of flat. For example, one may be able to determine a character’s personality by observing the way in which he or she responds to the views of society. If characters isolate themselves and reject society, one might derive that the character feels loneliness (in Miss Brill’s case) or is very naïve (in Sammy’s case). Society can play an important role in terms of plot and can make a huge difference in how the story and character are viewed by the reader.

Works Cited
Dessner, Lawrence Jay. “Irony and Innocence in John Updike’s ‘A & P.’” Studies in Short Fiction 25.3 (1988): 315-317. Academic Search Premier. 27 February 2010.
Fang, Du. “Who Makes a Devil out of a Fair Lady? –An Analysis of the Social Causes of Emily’s Tragedy in A Rose for Emily.” Canadian Social Science 3.4 (2007): 18-24. Abstract. Web. 27 February 2010.
Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily.” Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Eds. Kirzner, Laurie G. and Stephen R. Mandell. 7th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. 209-215.
Mandel, Miriam B. “Reductive Imagery in ‘Miss Brill.’” Studies in Short Fiction 26.4 (1989): 473-477. Academic Search Premier. 27 February 2010.
Mansfield, Katherine. “Miss Brill.” Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Eds. Kirzner, Laurie G. and Stephen R. Mandell. 7th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. 231-234.
Scherting, Jack. “Emily Grierson’s Oedipus Complex: Motif, Motive, and Meaning in Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily.’” Studies in Short Fiction 17.4 (1980): 397-405. Academic Search Premier. 27 February 2010.
Shen, Dan. “Subverting Surface and Doubling Irony: Subtexts of Mansfield’s ‘Revelations’ and Others.” English Studies 87.2 (2006): 191-209. Academic Search Premier. 27 February 2010.
Thompson, Corey Evan. “Updike’s A & P.” Explicator 59.4 (2001): 215-216. Academic Search Premier. 27 February 2010.
Updike, John. “A & P.” Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Eds. Kirzner, Laurie G. and Stephen R. Mandell. 7th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. 224-229.

Cited: Dessner, Lawrence Jay. “Irony and Innocence in John Updike’s ‘A & P.’” Studies in Short Fiction 25.3 (1988): 315-317 Fang, Du. “Who Makes a Devil out of a Fair Lady? –An Analysis of the Social Causes of Emily’s Tragedy in A Rose for Emily.” Canadian Social Science 3.4 (2007): 18-24. Mandel, Miriam B. “Reductive Imagery in ‘Miss Brill.’” Studies in Short Fiction 26.4 (1989): 473-477 Scherting, Jack. “Emily Grierson’s Oedipus Complex: Motif, Motive, and Meaning in Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily.’” Studies in Short Fiction 17.4 (1980): 397-405 Shen, Dan. “Subverting Surface and Doubling Irony: Subtexts of Mansfield’s ‘Revelations’ and Others.” English Studies 87.2 (2006): 191-209 Thompson, Corey Evan. “Updike’s A & P.” Explicator 59.4 (2001): 215-216. Academic Search Premier