2011 Student
Mr. Klein
Period 8
28 Feb. 2011
“A&P” and “A Rose for Emily” Response
Greek philosopher Aristotle describes a tragic hero as a character with noble stature who
is great, but not perfect. This character should be seen as someone like us, but elevated to a
higher position in society. The hero’s downfall is partially his or her fault, but does not result in
pure loss, but an increase in awareness and some gain in self-knowledge. Also, the tragedy
arouses emotions of pity and fear through a catharsis, or purge of emotion. Both Sammy from
“A&P” and Emily Grierson from “A Rose for Emily” embody these characteristics of a tragic
hero.
In “A&P,” Sammy quits his job because he felt that it was “unjust” for his boss, Lengel,
to reprimand the three girls in the store for being underdressed. Sammy had been so engrossed in
the girl’s presence that he became emotional when his boss exercised his right to enforce the
store’s policies. Lengel tries to stop him from quitting, but Sammy knew there was no turning
back on his decision, and that “once you begin a gesture it’s fatal not to go through with it.”
After he quit, however, he began to regret his decision and “[his] stomach kind of fell as [he] felt
how hard the world was going to be to [him] hereafter.”
In “A Rose for Emily,” the “high and mighty Grierson family” was ostracized from the
rest of the town, and despite all of Emily’s misfortunes, the townspeople were more interested in
her tax money than her well-being. After her father died, and her sweetheart had deserted her,
she was desperate to find someone to love, as she was going to stop at nothing to get what she
wanted. When Homer Barron came to town, she saw the opportunity to make him her
sweetheart, even though she knew the feeling was not mutual. However, at her funeral, the
townspeople learn that she killed him, and that a “long strand of iron-gray hair” was found on the
pillow next to the body. All Emily wanted was some to love, and she knew that a dead man
could never leave her and treat her as poorly as the townspeople did.