English Story Assessment

BOOK REVIEW

Soldier 's Home ' by Earnest Hemmingway and A

' by John Updike are both very intense and engrossing stories , dealing with non-conformism as basic character traits of the protagonists . It is but human nature to do things and behave in a way which is accepted by society and get appreciated for conforming to the standards set up by the so called authorities of society . But it needs a lot of guts and courage to behave in a way , which one feels is right . Krebs finds it very difficult to re-settle

himself in his home after his return from the first world war His mother is unable to reach out to Krebs who has gone through several life and death situations early in life . In the A

we see a similar situation in the form of the nineteen year old Sammy a sales person at a local grocery store . Updike has however dealt with the entire episode with humor unlike Hemmingway who has not deviated from the stern and serious note he had adopted right at the start of the story , and he stuck on to the gloomy tone throughout

Sammy is an adolescent youth , he believes in going through life according to his own set standards , at the cost of appearing a non conformist . He allows the three girls inside the store in bathing suits which is an inappropriate dress for the setting . Had Sammy been a person who followed the dictates of society he would have...