Power Of Desire In John Updike's A & P

206 Words1 Page

The short story, A&P written by American novelist John Updike, presents many themes throughout, however the idea of a feminist lens as well as the power of desire are two recurring topics that are well displayed in this short period piece. The author, John Updike uses a variety of literary elements to convey and explore the concepts of the objectification of women in the early 60’s along with the power of desire and pleasure. These concepts are presented by the author in an attempt to understand the possible consequences of one’s choices and actions. The main protagonist, Sammy, created by Updike, is portrayed as a casually polite yet poetic and witty nineteen year old who however lacks a certain degree of maturity and respect as he is

Show More
Related

  • The Revolution of The Young People: John Updike

    1191 Words  | 3 Pages

    In John Updike’s “A&P”, the revolution of the young people of the current age against authority is explored and explained. “A&P” reveals the shift from conservative and deferential to avant-garde and disrespectful. Through the observation of the behavior of the characters in the story, one can receive a clear picture of the evolution of the sexual revolution that has come in this age. Sammy is the first character that is introduced, he is the protagonist and narrator of the story. Stoksie and Lengel are next, Stoksie is a fellow store clerk with Sammy as well as a good friend and Lengel is the manager of the store. Finally, Queenie is introduced. “A&P” begins with Sammy noticing these three girls that come into the store in nothing but their bathing suits. Sammy then proceeds to analyze each of the girls bodies, finally coming to rest on the leader of the group, his favorite, who he affectionately names to himself, “Queenie”. Although Sammy and Stoksie joke back and forth about the girls sexiness, he is privately revolted by the butchers bluntly ogling the girls as they search for whatever they wish to purchase. Throughout this recounting of the experience, one begins to wonder, when did girls become pieces of meat to be observed and handled by men? They used to be cherished and protected as they should be. The sexual revolution of the past and current decades have changed all of that.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of John Updike's A&P

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his short story "A & P" John Updike utilizes a 19-year-old adolescent to show us how a boy gets one step closer to adulthood. Sammy, an A & P checkout clerk, talks to the reader with blunt first person observations setting the tone of the story from the outset. The setting of the story shows us Sammy's position in life and where he really wants to be. Through the characterization of Sammy, Updike employs a simple heroic gesture to teach us that actions have consequences and we are responsible for our own actions.

    Read More

  • John Updike Irony

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lust makes people do crazy things. John Updike’s short story “A&P” provides a perfect example of how lust made a boy quit his job. In this short story, a boy, named Sammy, catches a glimpse of three under-dressed, attractive girls as they enter his workplace. The manager asks the three girls to leave. As a result, Sammy is outraged by the mistreatment of the girls and quits his job in protest. Sammy’s stand against the mistreatment of the girls makes him feel like a hero. Updike’s use of descriptive words and dramatic irony in “A&P” leads the reader to believe that Sammy’s heroic acts were not actions with rebellious intentions, but actions due to his lust for the three under-dressed girls.

    Read More

  • A Feminist Perspective of John Updike's A&P

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    Two Works Cited    John Updike’s story, "A&P," starts off: "In walks three girls in nothing but bathing suits," and that pretty much sums it all up (Updike 1026). In the story, not only are the girls in bathing suits looked upon as sex objects, but other women are negatively viewed as witches, farm animals, or slaves. This story is about how a young man in the early 1960’s viewed women as a whole, including his own mother.

    Read More

  • Ordinary Occurences

    898 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Updike has a clever mind when it comes to writing famously notorious short stories. Simply, his stories are basic, but with a life lesson comes the purpose of the story. Frankly, he leaves the reader leaves the reader in a state of confusion. In two of his stories, a&p and the brown chest, the author relates ordinary occurrences to a greater meaning of life. A&P tells a story of a young man trying to find himself. In this coming-of age story, Sammy, a cashier, notices when three girls come in to the store in bikini’s. When the manager, Mr. Lengel sees the girls, he questions them asking why the girls are not in dress code. Sammy likes the third girl, Queenie, the one that led the other two. The young man gets frustrated and spouts out at lengel. The girls walk out, Sammy hopes that the girls will hear him and come back. Even though the girls did not return, Sammy gives up his minimum wage job and walks out. In the back of his mind, he realizes that his parents will not be satisfied with this decision, but he risks it all anyway. The other short story, the Brown chest, is about a young boy who finds a chest filled with items from his ancestors, such as a wedding dress or several strands of some auburn curls. As the boy grows up, he continues to hate the chest. With time progressing, the brown chest moves away farther and farther. The items remain, forever more. John Updike shows several similarities in his writings while keeping it fresh for readers with making changes. These two stories, A&P and The Brown Chest , Updike makes imagery and produces frequent symbolismto convey an important message.

    Read More

  • Of Choices And Consequences In John Updike's A & P

    603 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many times in our lives, we wish we were independent and we believe we can stand up for ourselves, especially during our adolescence. In “A &P”, a short story by John Updike, the protagonist, Sammy, decides to stand up for himself and go against the customary life style of his town. By doing this such act, he reveals the themes of the story, which include maturity and choices followed by consequences. Updike uses literary devices such as symbolism and tone to help enforce the theme. There are two major themes in Updike’s “A & P;” one being choices and its consequences and the other being maturity.

    Read More

  • A & P by John Updike

    1259 Words  | 3 Pages

    John Updike, one of the most forward-thinking and socially provocative writers of the 50s and 60s, is known for his “incisive presentation of the quandaries of contemporary personal and social life.” (Lawn 529) Updike graduated from Harvard University and wrote for one of the more cutting edge publications like The New Yorker- both are notoriously ahead of their time and harbor controversial ideas. In his short story “A&P”, Updike reveals a young man named Sammy in a society on the brink of a social revolution- one in which a group of girls and an innocent cashier will unknowingly lead. Updike, through symbolism and syntax, shows how the girls are leading the revolution, how Sammy is feeling the wrath of this revolution, and which part each of the characters represent.

    Read More

  • John Updike's 'A & P'

    406 Words  | 1 Pages

    Sammy is a teen in his 19 years of age. He works in a market called A&P where he is believes is a boring job. At this age young boys want to have fun. Although his parents are the ones who help him get the job. That job as he describes is for someone older like Lengel and Stokesie. Sammy wants to his live to fullest like the girls in the bathing suits. By casual diction we can tell his age and the maturity he has within. Sammy is a person who will go through quiting to life a lifestyle he wants. We can say he is a dreamer who will fight for what he believes in. Intelligent because he realizes quiting will have its

    Read More

  • Sammy in Updike's A&P

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    The main character in John Updike's short story “A&P” is Sammy. The story's first-person context gives the reader a unique insight toward the main character's own feelings and choices, as well as the reasons for the choices. The reader is allowed to closely observe Sammy's observations and first impressions of the three girls who come to the grocery store on a summer afternoon in the early 1960s. In order to understand this short story, one must first recognize the social climate of the era, the age of the main character, and the temptation this individual faces.

    Read More

  • Alienation and LonelinessThe 1984 Novel by George Orwell

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    “In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits (Updike 430).” The opening of the short story written by John Updike, called ‘A&P’, immediately creates a sense of bewilderment. The setting the author uses as the backdrop is very essential to the story and helps with understanding the main character’s decision to eventually quit his job at the end. The protagonist and main character is Sammy, an employee of the A&P. Sammy not only walks away from his job, but he also chooses to leave the A&P and what the store represents in the story. John Updike’s ‘A&P’ uses the setting of the story to create a feeling of being restricted.

    Read More

  • John Updike A & P Transition Into Adulthood

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Updike depicts Sammy’s character as a typical young boy who thinks he is invisible to the idea that consequences apply to him. However, Sammy is granted the harsh actuality that he will no longer be given slaps on the wrist for radical decisions. His coworker Stokesie is twenty-two, married and has two children. Generally speaking, Sammy may still have childish actions but he understands that he does not want to work at the A&P the rest of his life. When he is stricken by the proposition to stand up for the girls as Lengel confronts them about their attire, his entire world

    Read More

  • Gender And Gender Roles In A & P, By John Updike

    1307 Words  | 3 Pages

    Going against the norm almost always brings trouble. Much more so when the norms relate to gender in our society. From our formative years straight up to adulthood, society upholds certain distinct expectations of behaviors both male and females. Young men and woman are thus expected to follow and fit into these gender roles that are meant to guide and govern their behavior. The theme of gender and gender roles can be examined in the short story, “A & P”, written by John Updike. Through examination it can be seen that various characters go against the expected gender roles of that time period. Specifically the main character and narrator of Sammy. It is through the analysis of Sammy’s behavior that we discover what happens when you go against

    Read More

  • Comparing Girl by Jamaica Kincaid and A&P by John Updike

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    Within every story or poem, there is always an interpretation made by the reader, whether right or wrong. In doing so, one must thoughtfully analyze all aspects of the story in order to make the most accurate assessment based on the literary elements the author has used. Compared and contrasted within the two short stories, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, and John Updike’s “A&P,” the literary elements character and theme are made evident. These two elements are prominent in each of the differing stories yet similarities are found through each by studying the elements. The girls’ innocence and naivety as characters act as passages to show something superior, oppression in society shown towards women that is not equally shown towards men.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis of John Updike's A&P

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Updike's A&P provides numerous perspectives for critical interpretation. His descriptive metaphors and underlying sexual tones are just the tip of the iceberg. A gender analysis could be drawn from the initial outline of the story and Sammy's chauvinism towards the female. Further reading opens up a formalist and biographical perspective to the critic. After several readings I began seeing the Marxist perspective on the surreal environment of A&P. The economic and social differences are evident through Sammy's storytelling techniques and even further open up a biographical look at Updike's own view's and opinions. According to an essay posted on the internet Updike was a womanizer in his own era and displayed boyish immaturity into his adulthood. A second analysis of this story roots more from a reader-response/formalist view. Although Sammy centered his dramatization around three young females, more specifically the Queen of the trio, it was a poignant detailed head to toe description of scene. I'll touch on that later.

    Read More

  • Teenage Rebellion and Resilience in John Updike's A&P

    1085 Words  | 3 Pages

    John Updike’s A&P gives us an idea that the world isn’t always black and white by telling a story about a teenager who does what he believes in and quits his job because of a disagreement with his boss and to get the attention of a girl. The kid doesn’t get the girl and has to deal with the consequences of his actions but through it all he sticks to his decisions. Following the standard through life in any aspect can seem pretty easy at times, but seeing the grey, choosing to act and becoming resilient through it all displays what kind of character you are.

    Read More

More about Power Of Desire In John Updike's A & P

Open Document