Character Analysis

Being a Rebel

Everyone rebels sometime in their life. It is just a rite or passage that everyone goes through. It's how we, as human beings, gain our sense of independence. I will examine three characters from three different stories and how they rebel. Not everyone rebels against the same thing. However, they still rebel in the end.

I feel that Sammy in "A&P" rebels to a certain extent. I feel like he does rebel but maybe not how I would've done it or in a way I would've did it. My first problem is that he doesn't say anything to his boss to stand up for the girls when they are in the store. He waits until they leave and then he tells his boss he quits. I feel like this is almost the easy way out and he ended up quitting just to save his pride. You can tell this when Sammy says, "It's true. But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture, it's fatal not to go through with it."

Sammy, in the end, does rebel. I know it's not easy to stand up to a boss where you work. I know the first time I did it, I was a nervous wreck. I think that Sammy did show that he could do it. Sammy doesn't strike me as a kid who sticks up for himself or rebels very often. So I think the fact that he did this shows that he is not afraid of a challenge or the unknown. I say the unknown because Sammy doesn't know what he is going to do now. He quit his job and story was written back in the 60's, so I'm sure it's not that easy to get a job if you're a teenager.

Sammy also rebels against his parents in a way. When Sammy tells his manager that he wants to quit, the manager says," You don't want to do this to your mom and dad." His reply is something along the lines of that he doesn't want to do this to his parents. So even though Sammy is really rebelling against his manager, he rebels against his parents at the same time. Sammy even said so himself that he didn't want to do this to his parents. However, he did it anyway.

Toni rebels against so many things. She is a young girl who lives in the middle of a ghetto. You would never know it, though. It seems to me she holds her head high and she has a lot of pride in herself. She rebels at everything from her teacher to the world idea of richness.

Toni definitely rebels against Miss Moore the whole story. She always feels that Miss Moore is wrong in some way. For example, when Miss Moore talks to them about being poor and them living in the ghetto, Toni gets a little offended. Her response was, "And then she gets to the part about we all poor and live in the slums, which I don't figure. She shows that even though she does live in a poorer section of the city, it doesn't bother her whereas most kids would be like yea you're right.

Toni also rebels against the idea that you need money or nice material things to live a good life. When they go to FAQ Schwartz, she is amazed at what people would pay. She even states,"White folks are crazy." This shows that she would never spend this much money on something so trivial as a stained glass ball or a sailboat. She breaks the idea of that if you live in the ghetto, you hate your life. Toni is almost the exact opposite. She enjoys her life there to some extent. I'm sure she would like to get out of there. However, when she does get things, I think she ends up appreciating it more. When Toni and Sugar run off with the money, they are so happy to get some chips and a lot of soda. It made their day.

She also rebels against the idea