Main Themes in American Author's Works

The primary theme in “A&P” by John Updike brings to light the actions and consequences associated within romantic interests. Sammie quits his job for his love interest, Queenie, which makes the reader feel wistfully optimistic that such a sweet and sacrificial character would exist. When Queenie does not care for Sammie’s quitting his job for her, the reader faces the harsh reality that it was not such a smart move on his part to quit his job for her.

This is proven in the lines here, “I look around for my girls, but they're gone, of course… my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter.” This, to me, sounded like the modern-day anomaly, colloquially known as being a “simp”. This means a man makes himself a fool to woo a woman who does not appreciate him whatsoever. In my experience, I often see good men go after women who are clearly superficial or not good for them.

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Even if the man does end up with the woman he wants, he is often treated poorly or cheated on.

The theme in A Clean and Well Lighted Place, by Earnest Hemmingway sheds light on the fact that each person is insignificant in an existence of forgetfulness. Hemmingway conveys this by the lines “Our nada who art in nada, nada be thy name thy kingdom nada thy will be nada in nada as it is in nada…” which goes on for several lines.

The repeated use of nada and the protagonist’s indifferent attitude make the story seem that this man has a bland monotonous life. There have been somewhat bland times in my life as well, I can think of my year after high school when I was not in college in particular. All I did was work and the days seemed to blend together. It was somewhat grueling and boring, yet pleasant.

The theme in The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin 1894 centers around the idea that marriage is oppressive in nature. To men and women. Chopin states that she will cry at her husband’s funeral, yet she cannot wait to live for herself and on her own. “She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely…” Complete autonomy is what she yearns for. I have found that sacrifices must be made relationally, interdependence must be maintained to keep peace and love in the home, on both sides of married couples, yet some people have personalities that do not fit well into marriage. I think Chopin was one of the later.

The themes in “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid center around sexuality, culture, and domestic life. This is summarized in the lines “I know you are so bent on becoming; this is how you iron your father’s khaki shirt so that it doesn’t have a crease; this is how you iron your father’s khaki pants so that they don’t have a crease; this is how you grow okra…” The reader sees a mother who loves her daughter through a parenting style known as “tough love”. She is conveying that if you do certain things and behave a certain way, you will turn out to be a fast, trashy woman. The tone seems depressing, however. The theme is very relevant to daily life. Jamaican culture does well to train young women to listen to and respect their elders, and prepare them for motherhood. This reminds me of the way I was raised, now I am happily married with a child.