John Updike Interview:
John Updike’s interview was very interesting to me. When reading, I always wonder about how the writer interprets their own story. After watching this interview I realized that the reader’s interpretation is not always the same as the writer’s. I was surprised to find out that Updike thought of Sammy as a hero. Updike described Sammy’s resignation as a “noble surrender of his position”. However, I do not think this was a noble act. Sammy quit his job to impress a girl. When Sammy quit, he made a stupid decision . If making a stupid decision to impress a girl is heroic, there are a lot of heroes in the world.

Sharon Olds:
After reading the two poems by Sharon Olds, I think Olds and Updike have two different ideas of heroism. Updike considered it heroic for Sammy to quit his job to impress the girls. Olds portrays her children as heroes because they did something for the common good of other people. I agree with Olds’ idea of heroism. Her son spoke up for “ the sake of the group”. Therefore, he is more heroic than Sammy because there was no personal gain. He did not want to impress anyone. He spoke up to keep peace between his friends.