Professor: Raquel Corona
EN 102
September 05, 2014
Question 1: Notice how artfully Updike arranges details to set the story in a perfectly ordinary supermarket. What details stands out a particularly true to life? What does this close attention to detail contribute to the story?
John Updike short story A&P gave detailed visualization and description of people, places and things. Updike described a supermarket just like a local grocery store that I would go to. Sammy is the narrator in the story. He works as a cashier in the supermarket. One sunny Thursday afternoon, the supermarket has been empty with little to less customers. Updike arranged different scenario to give readers a picture of what's going on and in what way these description relates to true to life view. While reading A&P, the narrator's description and details has given me a visualization of what is actually going on. At some point in reading, I felt as if I was actually in the story at my grocery store shopping for groceries.
According to Updike, A&P is an ordinary supermarket with ordinary people. Sammy described customer's looking at groceries, checking their list to make sure they have everything they needed. In relations to the story, the narrator visual description did indeed had an insight of true to life scenario. For instance, Updike arranged a few more scenario that also stand out to be particularly true to life. For example, the narrator gave an imagery setting of the supermarket located in the middle of a town surrounded by a couple banks, few real estates, a Congregational church, a newspaper stand and " twenty-seven old free loaders tearing up Central Street because the sewer drain broke down". This reminds me of New York City more of "Central Park" where the weather is very sunny and nice the road workers is doing their job at its best. Updike give these description to connect the story with true life story.
In conclusion, close details of true to life scenario give the reader a more better outlook of what is going on through out the story. More of an imagery was given so that readers were able to relate to the things that is happening in real life. He also used these details to help contribute more to the story so that we as readers can have a clearer picture of the people, places and things that were described.
This is my view point in response to the question. What I was troubled at first after reading this story "A&P" is when Sammy quit his job. I thought to myself and started to question like what a "stupid" move. Finally, after reading it again I was able to learn that Sammy actually didn't like his job. He was a cashier and he already said he "quit" so he shouldn't leave it that way but to put some action into it.
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ReplyDeleteI'm so right there with Updike. In quitting his Job, Sammy acted impulsively triggered by his visual idée fixe with women. I don't believe his act of quitting was premeditated. An overabundance of individuals in the world do not like their job; work for most is still done out of necessity. I believe that he idolizes women and on that particular day he became completely fixated and enamored with the three young ladies. He instinctively reacted when the Manager of the A&P Supermarket scolded the Girls. Sammy had built them up in his mind as idols to be worshipped. He quit because he was mesmerized by everything about the Young Ladies. He was under the influence, drunk and in a stupor with a fixed idea that he could be-friend them and that his life would be then be a happy one. Afterwards, he realized that he was going to struggle reiteratively with the issue of seeking happiness from an object outside of himself. He knew that if he reacted like this again; that he would face many more unfavorable predicaments because of it. This is reinforced by Sammy’s final thought about "how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter." He realized then, that by quitting, that he might have made a mistake. That the happiness he seeks might be better found from within.
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