ipl-logo

Psychological Criticism In 'A & P And Chrysanthemums'

792 Words4 Pages

Emily Kruger
Mr. Zeeb
ENH 110 per. 6
9/12/16

Beginning with Sigmund Frued, the concept of psychological criticism examines the conscious and unconscious actions of characters. By analyzing characters’ biological impulses, rational thoughts, and rules or morals, readers are able to grasp an insight to the characters’ thoughts and actions. Psychological criticism also analyzes how the human mind works and how mental development has occurred in characters. For instance, the main characters in both “A&P” by John Updike and “Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck are similar. In both short stories, the authors develop the actions and mindset of the main character. The authors show the psychological ideas of Sigmund Frued through the characters’ drives, logical thoughts, and psychological rules. In both of the short stories the main characters have a biological impulse or drive. Both main characters are told they are unable to complete a task which leads them to want to prove an antagongist in the story incorrectly. For example, in the short story “A & P” the main character’s boss tells the main character that he wouldn’t want to quit and doesn’t know …show more content…

Another example would be in “Chrysanthemums,” when the main character states, “No I wouldn’t like fights.” (Steinbeck 322), showing logic for the main character knows that most women do not go to fights nor do they enjoy them even though she herself has never been to one. Each character was raised to believe some actions are wrong while others are right based on what they have learned and observed throughout their

Show More
Related

Setting In The Chrysanthemums

222 Words | 1 Pages

In John Steinbacks “The Chrysanthemums,” the shift of the setting from the ranch to the road plays an important role in the development of the main character, Elisa. Therefore, in the first setting, Elisa is in her garden attending to her the chrysanthemums, which she loves and cares for. Immediately, we’re placed in a rural setting, where women happen to live in isolation and man is manly. Elisa sneaks quick glances towards the men by the tractor shed, who is talking to her husband, waiting for them to leave, so she can throw aside her gloves and work her fingers into the soil of the garden. However, Elisa shows her fearless side by quickly digging in the garden, with her eagerness to grow her chrysanthemums, right after the men leave.

Read More

Homer Larry Potter Quotes

1258 Words | 6 Pages

An example of this is when Agnes says, “I have loved you all my life” (Dickens 370) Agnes taught David a very important lesson despite the fact that she does not directly teach him the lesson. David learns that some of the best things are right in front of you and you just have to acknowledge it. Agnes was always there for David from the beginning, and even though she loved him she would still listen to his problems about other women. In the end, David marries Agnes because he realizes that she is the one that is always there for him and that she is the one that he was meant to be with, but he never realized it all this time.

Read More

The Chrysanthemums Literary Analysis Essay

374 Words | 2 Pages

The Chrysanthemums Literary Analysis One of the themes of “The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck is gender inequality. In this short story, the main character Elisa Allen was a strong, smart woman who was stuck being a common housewife. Elisa wishes she could go out and be like the tinker, sleeping under the stars and adventuring every day of her life. Elisa’s husband owns a ranch of some sorts, and when he tells Elisa of the business deal he’d just made he gave her an unspecific explanation, or a dumbed down one so he doesn’t “confuse her”.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Sympathy Analysis

1212 Words | 5 Pages

It is very important that writers are able to send a message to their reader with their book. Authors best do this by bringing about empathy. In order to send this message, authors often develop strong characters that go through various problems and struggles. The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, shows this very well with its characters Scout Finch and Tom Robinson. This book helps the readers learn from the character’s reactions to their problems.

Read More

Examples Of Misjudged In The Outsiders

793 Words | 4 Pages

C. G. Jung once said, “Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.” Misjudgement is an issue in the world today, but especially in the lives of characters found in literature. It means to misunderstand someone, which causes the interactions to be different than someone “normal”. In the novels The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and Lord of the Flies by William Golding, two characters were misjudged because their personality was overlooked, which resulted in the readers learning from that misjudgment.

Read More

Comparison Of Frankenstein And The Maltese Falcon

1912 Words | 8 Pages

This paper will analyze the obsessive behaviors of Brigid O’Shaughnessy and Victor Frankenstein, and then compare and contrast them. “The Maltese Falcon” Dashiell Hammett’s “The Maltese Falcon” was centered around a frantic search for a jewel encrusted bird. Samuel Spade was

Read More

Character Analysis In John Updike's A & P

1149 Words | 5 Pages

John Updike’s story “A&P” is a literary masterpiece that reveals the expectations of a man at the prime of his youth and an old manager in a society that is seemingly so strict on social ideals. Told from the first person point of view, the story is a strong way to show what the character Sammy learns in the shop as he develops his personality traits through the buyers and the manager. Written in the present simple tense, the story proves to be more appropriate for oral presentation. The purpose of this essay is to present a critical analysis of the personality traits of the character Sammy. In order to present the character traits analysis, the essay contends that a person is described through what they say, do, and think, what others think or say about them, or how the author describes them.

Read More

Good Vs Evil In The Cask Of Amontillado

1106 Words | 5 Pages

In the short stories “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, and “Poison” by Roald Dahl, the protagonists are motivated by self objectives and don’t pay attention to the sentiments of others, making them flawed. In the short story, “The Cask of Amontillado”, by Edgar Allan Poe, the protagonist is flawed in

Read More

Influences On The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

2015 Words | 9 Pages

There are hundreds of works of literature out in the world, many of them are great, and some are not as great. What makes them great is the truth behind them, the true feelings, and what it truly meant to the author. Many great works of literature are influenced by several different things, in the case of “The Metamorphosis”, it was influenced by the life of Franz Kafka, the author, and his real- life experiences. The Freudian concept help explain why “The Metamorphosis” contains symbols and clues that can be used to compare certain relationships throughout Kafka’s life, one being with his father, and the other with woman who entered his life. Franz Kafka was a German man who worked as a lawyer who worked at the workmen’s Accident Insurance

Read More

The Interpretation Of Dreams In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

910 Words | 4 Pages

Mary Shelley used her vivid knowledge of dreams and depicted Frankenstein as being shameful and frustrated that he created a monster. Frankenstein’s emotions about the murders weigh on his conscious and emerge in his dreams. Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory gives insight into why people are the way they are and the decisions they make every day. He explains how the events people go through greatly affect how they run out in adulthood. Mary Shelley’s book paints a very vivid picture through a psychological aspect of Victor Frankenstein.

Read More

The Yellow Wallpaper Psychoanalytic Analysis

1291 Words | 6 Pages

However, it could also be analyzed from a psychoanalytic perspective. The unnamed narrator has many mental problems. First of all, according to Freud, the unconscious affects the conscious in the form of guilt. The narrator always has an overwhelming sense of guilt. For example, the narrator says "he takes all care from me, and so I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more."

Read More

Fight Club Literary Analysis

1315 Words | 6 Pages

There are many different ways that reader can choose to interpret a literary work that they are reading or examining. The Freudian lens is one of the many tools that helps reader understand the in depth meaning of the main characters through their behaviors, characteristics, actions and their surroundings. Fight Club, a novel written by Chuck Palahniuk, can also be interpreted by using the Freudian theory to analyze the main character, Joe (the narrator) and his discreet personality, Tyler Durden. The story is about the narrator’s depressing life in which he has been suffering from reality, until he has created another personality that represents his desire. In Fight Club, the narrator’s traits of aggressiveness, his desire and his sense of

Read More

The Flowers By Alice Walker Literary Devices

455 Words | 2 Pages

In the short story “The Flowers”, Alice Walker sufficiently prepares the reader for the texts surprise ending while also displaying the gradual loss of Myop’s innocence. The author uses literary devices like imagery, setting, and diction to convey her overall theme of coming of age because of the awareness of society's behavior.     At the beguining of the story the author makes use of proper and necessary diction to create a euphoric and blissful aura. The character Myop “skipped lightly” while walker describes the harvests and how is causes “excited little tremors to run up her jaws.”. This is an introduction of the childlike innocence present in the main character.

Read More

Use Of Characterization In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

1067 Words | 5 Pages

John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is a short novel that packs a punch and really looks back at America’s past and mistakes. Steinbeck paints a picture of the late 1920s and early 1930s through two men, George and Lennie. George looks after the mentally challenged Lennie and must take action by soon ending Lennie’s life. The characters in the novel all struggle with heartbreaking conflicts but, no one else suffers more than Lennie and George. These conflicts are often supported imagery in the text.

Read More

Critical Analysis Of Alice Walker's 'The Flowers'

1002 Words | 5 Pages

Transitional states of maturity can be challenged or championed by unexpected discoveries which can be confronting or provocative. This is explored through Alice Walker’s 1973 prose fiction, “The Flowers”, as the protagonist’s view on the world is transformed due to the personal zemblanic discovery made. The short story explores the themes of loss of innocence and death in order to address cultural indifference and the prejudice experienced by certain groups within society, which in turn causes individuals to be effected negatively. Walker hopes to evoke sense of political and social reflection in her audience, hoping that intimate discoveries of past inequity by her readers will ensure cultural equity maintains future momentum.

Read More

More about Psychological Criticism In 'A & P And Chrysanthemums'

Related Topics

Open Document