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Explicit and Implicit Goals in Literature


            When it comes to comes to themes about stories, a common theme known as explicit and implied goals seem to overtake most themes due to how simple of the idea is. Explicit goal in literature is when the main character is purposely trying to make the believer believe what his intentions really are however the implicit is what the character is actually trying to achieve at the end. For example a basic scenario can be a boy asking a girl out to prom. Most people would think he chased after her because he liked her but in depth of the story might show that the boy only wanted to ask her out so he would have an excuse to say no to creepy girl who has a monster crush on the boy. Comparing the two stories, "A&P" by John Updike and "Araby" by James Joyce, there are cases of explicit and implied goals that differ with each other.
             The story of A&P seems like a typical short story about a boy working at a super market when he judges people walking in and out. Throughout the story, the main character named Sammy complains about the people who walk through and how his manager mistreats a group of ladies that he finds attractive. Sammy talks about how amazing they look in their bathing suits to make the reader believe that his main goal is to win their love. The explicit goal in this story happens when Sammy yells at his manager that he quits and runs out the door after the three young women. However at that point Sammy doesn't find girls anywhere but is still satisfied by what he did. The implicit goal is known when Sammy describes his tough times at his job, he said he was getting exhausted with his job as a cashier doing the same things everyday and having to deal with a disrespectful manager. On top of that, the ladies in bikinis reminded Sammy of the fun times he had in the past which also made him quit. While I was reading the book, I fell into the trap of the explicit goal as this story made it seem as straight forward as to why Sammy quit but it took me a while to figure out why he truly resigned.


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