The Wisdom of Experience: Irony and Symbolism in Shepherd, Updike, and Anderson
If only I knew then, what I know now. This theme runs through Jean Shepherd's essay "The Endless Streetcar Ride into the Night, and the Tinfoil Noose," John Updike's short story "A&P," and Sherwood Anderson's "I'm A Fool." All of these works of prose use irony and symbolism to underline similar themes, namely the tension between the narrator's ignorance during of a youthful past versus the sad wisdom of someone who is older and wiser. But while Shepherd uses ironic language in his essay, he expresses sentiments that are likely to be his own, while Updike and Anderson create young first-person character narrations who express sentiments that are likely to be very different from those of the actual, older writer."Mewling, puking babes. That's the way we all start," reflects Shepherd at the beginning of his essay. (Shepherd, 1966) In short, all of us begin the same way, as blank slates or infants. There is an ironic tension between this vulnerable state and the "Prime Ministers, the Presidents, Cabinet members, Stars, dynamic molders of the Universe," that some of these babes become. Of course, not all babes become President. Many become the faceless audience these stars impress and are doomed to worry for the rest of their li
" (Shepherd, 1966) The symbolic contrast between the career of the office boy and the politician's 'no comment,' when before, both of them engaged in the same joyous pastimes of youth, underlines Shepherd's hard-won wisdom that life's outcomes are arbitrary, and similar, innocent beginnings can yield unexpected results in adulthood. ' [Said the manager] He turns his back. Sammy is only nineteen, and makes many ignorant comments throughout the story, like his statement that a girl's brain is like a buzzing bee, something that a young man with little experience with women might be likely to say. says 'No comment' to the Press, and lives a real genuine Life on the screen of the world. What the others want is juvenile delinquency. This enables these authors to show how much a character's perspective, when young, can be lacking, when compared to the author's older and wiser self. But he also seems to have learned less, and one hardly thinks that Anderson approves of the sentiment: "I don't care nothing for working, and earning money, and saving it for no such boob as myself. I said my name was Walter Mathers from Marietta, Ohio, and then I told all three of them the smashingest lie you ever heard. " (Anderson, "I'm a Fool," Moonstar) When writing an essay, the author, like Shepherd, thus can use irony in his reflection about the world, in bringing to light events that are ironic and have symbolic importance in his eyes, because they illustrate a larger truth about humanity. For Sammy, because of his sexual attraction to the girls, this event seems significant, even though the three girls probably forget the insult as soon as they leave the store.
Common topics in this essay:
John Updike's,
Fool Moonstar,
I'm Fool,
Mail Life,
Cabinet Stars,
Sammy Sammy,
Updike Anderson's,
Updike Anderson,
Tigertown Updike,
Marietta Ohio,
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john updike's short,
anderson i'm fool,
short story a&p,
updike's short,
short story,
story a&p,
sherwood anderson's,
shepherd 1966,
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i'm fool moonstar,
'no comment',
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fool moonstar,
updike's short story,
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Acceptance Essays
