Monday, December 13, 2010

A & P - John Updike

Sammy is a cashier at a local grocery store. 3 girls walk into the store in bikinis. There is a chubby girl who recently got her suit, a tall dark haired girl, and the queen bee who had her swimsuit straps off of her shoulders. The girls parade through the store, get what they need, and proceed to check out. The manager comes into the store then and tells the girls that they need to be dressed decently next time they come to the store. Sammy gets offended by this and decides to quit his job as the girls are leaving the store. After he quits he realizes that they are gone and that he has nothing now.


In this story the males and females are layed out as stereotypical males and females. Sammy, a young man, spends a good amount of time examining the young women in the store. He notices every little thing about them and starts to form a relationship with them in his mind. He feels as if this relationship goes both ways and that they should have noticed him. By the end of the story he does something stupid to try to get the girls attention and be there hero. He was trying to act like the prince in a fairy tale who comes and saves the damsel in distress. The girls on the other hand walk through the store with all eyes on them. They think people are checking them out, but in reality the girls are just disrupting the norm and people are scandalized. The girls are also in the stereotypical clique. There is the queen bee and her followers. These girls completely fit that stereotype. Also, the girls almost seem kind of ditsy like the need someone to step in and save them. This portrays them as needing a man's help, even when they really don't.

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