An Ounce Of Cure Comparison

In all good stories, there is a theme the author tries to convey. In John Updike’s short story, “A&P”, the author conveys the struggle of power through the significant use of the plot, setting and characters. The narrator, Sammy, begins the story when he notices three girls walk into the grocery store of a small town. The setting already poses a set for a struggle of power. At this point in the story, Sammy describes himself as above the “sheep” -- that is people shopping at the grocery store and even some of his co workers such as Stokesie or McMahon.

Times are changing, but many of life’s lessons are timeless as demonstrated in John Updike’s short story “A&P.” Updike’s story takes place in the early 1960’s, just as the women’s liberation movement begins. A few of the primary themes of this short story relate to gender inequality, power, sex, ethics and individualism. The story takes place in a small New England grocery store chain with Sammy, a 19 year- old boy, narrating. It begins to unfold when 3 beautiful teenage girls strut into the grocery store wearing only a swimsuit.

The use of various and different archetypes such as the threshold guardian and the defiant anti-hero in “A&P” coveys John Updike’s changing perception of women and the values in today’s society. When the reader is first introduced to Sammy, they see him observing “three girls in nothing but bathing suits” and privately starts pointing out distinct physical features such as their “sweet broad soft-looking can” and how “the third one wasn’t so tall. She was the queen.” (Updike 1). Sammy is a very atypical person and doesn’t fall under society’s norm of a gentleman or one who shows any form of chivalry towards women..

Sammy sees himself as a hero. He is an adventurous hero because his infatuation with Queenie takes him on an adventure down a tricky path that he is anxious to overcome. Sammy shows his heroic tendencies when he speaks his mind to his boss for humiliating the three girls who came in the store. “You didn’t have to embarrass them.” As quickly as he could, Sammy expresses his disappointment for how Lengel shames the three girls, in hopes that Queenie acknowledges his heroics.

One of the seven deadly sins is the act of having too much pride. Pride in general is not an evil feeling to have. It is human to have pride in oneself, but having too much pride is unhealthy and will cause problems somewhere along the way. Two characters who show a harmful amount of pride are Sylvia from Toni Bambara’s “The Lesson” and Sammy John Updike’s “A&P”. A famous quotation states “Pride (arrogance) comes before Destruction... and a haughty spirit, before a fall.”

Social status is defined as a person's standing or importance in relation to other people within a society. Social status has affected the world for hundreds of years, from where you were allowed to go to the bathroom, to if you were allowed to vote. The way a person is viewed and treated is all caused by what is believed to be their rank in society and in the short story, “A&P”, John Updike uses irony, symbolism, and characterization to show this. Sometimes people dissatisfied with their opportunities get caught up with what others represent, causing rash decisions that lead to disappointment.

The Impact of Setting in John Updike’s “A&P” “The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle--the girls were walking against the usual traffic (not that we have one-way signs or anything)--were pretty hilarious” (Updike 651). As an average cashier at a plain A&P store in the middle of town, the protagonist Sammy is unaccustomed to customers in provocative attire. Queenie and her two friends (one chunky, one tall) are outcast in a setting of tremendous social conformity, and quickly catch Sammy’s watchful eye with their unexpected bikinis. Unabashed in teenage ignorance, these three girls continue to shop for herring snacks, unaware that consequence is at their doorstep.

Anand Sundaram Professor George Bishop USE2307: HIV/AIDS – From Microbes to Nations 6th February, 2015 Book Review: The Invisible Cure by Helen Epstein Helen Epstein’s book “The Invisible Cure: Africa, The West and the Fight Against AIDS” is a powerful account of the AIDS epidemic that has hit hardest in Africa. Epstein is a scientist-turned-writer who merges 15 years of personal observations with scientific reasoning to explain the spread of HIV/AIDS in the continent. She explains why the battle against the disease has been so challenging in Africa in spite of the investment of large amounts of effort and money. Giving the example of Uganda, Epstein argues that the solution may not align with what the proverbial Western World envisions, and that it must come from the Africans themselves.

Customs and convictions change; respectable people are the last to know, or to admit, the change, and the ones most offended by fresh reflections of the facts in the mirror of art (Updike). The story, A&P, is written by John Updike, it takes place in a grocery store named “A&P”. Three girls were judged based on what they wore. In the short story, the main characters are the girls, manager, and the teenage boy.

Parents are often the first to lay the foundational layer to a child’s life, which can be greatly influential, although young immature people are easily influenced by others, they may incorporate other influence thought their young lives to become ones who positively influence other. Young immature people are easily influenced in not thinking for themselves which can stem from their childhood or ones desire for acceptance of their peers. In “A Change of Attitude” by Grant Berry he explains his childhood and expressed the stigma his father embedded in him about education. Grant Berry’s father deeply expressed his opinions on education in making comments like school is a prison, and graduating from high school was so you never had

The mythological “A&P” by John Updike Thesis: Updike uses a number of different aspects such as setting, imagery, etc. to project the mythology in the story and Sammy’s choices and consequences that come along with it. • Saldivar, Toni. " The Art of John Updike's 'A&P.'" Studies in Short Fiction 34.2 (1997): 215-25. Saldivar’s opinion on John Updike’s A&P is that the young girls are “mythological temptresses” whom lure away young men to destruction.

A major theme in A&P is personal freedom. Throughout the story Updike uses metaphor for all elements in the story to implies the theme. At the beginning of the story, Sammy uses sarcastic tone to describe the customers as “sheep” and “houseslaves” which implies he is different from them in mindset. The way how Sammy talks about others shows his intellectual mind. He is not same as Stokesie who wants to be a manager one day.