A&P Reflection

I think that what makes this piece so powerful is the description of the girls as they walk into the supermarket. For example, the narrator notices even minor details—details that usually would be overlooked. In the beginning when the girls are walking into the supermarkets in their bikini’s, he notices the chunky girl with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs.” The narrator’s attraction is prevalent, and it is his description of the girls that portrays his attraction towards them. It is also his description of them, especially the example I just used, that makes me see him as a sleazy character. His use of the word ‘cans’ draws me to have this immediate opinion of him because it’s a bit of a slang word, which I view as disrespectful. This piece helped me come to the realization that the description of external characters is important but not only in building their character, but also the character who is describing them.

A & P

When I was reading A & P, the narrator is not portrayed directly but rather through the people and setting he describes.  While he was describing the girls, especially, Queenie, time seems to be moving very slowly.  It seems as though in this store, there's time to relax and think about things.  That's essentially what the narrator is doing.  He is also talking to the reader, more so in the beginning of the story.  

I think the turning point is on page 1495 when Lengel speaks for the first time.  This is the break where the narrator stops narrating and talking about the characters and the setting.  The story turns into more of a dialogue.  This general area seems like the climax of the story.  By the end of the story, everything comes crashing down.  

A&P Structure

One thing I found very interesting about this piece was it's format. It was one long narrow column of text. There were no indentations, only empty space between paragraphs. This had an interesting effect of the dialogue.

Throughout the piece the format prevents us from seeing too far ahead. We can't really gauge what will happen next because none of the standard cues are there for us. Even when characters first start talking, the tags used and the descriptions attached to them ensconce them in their own paragraphs.

This is not true, however, when Sammy quits.

Here there are no tags, and the sentences are short, not taking up more than one line of text. This gives them wait. It speeds up the pace of the dialogue from the slow march the block-text of the piece had maintained previously, reminding us, even after the narrator tells us that this is the "sad part" that we've reached the climax of the piece.

Dialogue in "A Good Man is Hard to Find"

      Flannery O'Connor's short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" uses dialogue in an interesting way.   For much of the story, the grandmother will not stop talking.  Instead she chatters away as her son and his family ignore her.  The narrative, while giving her a voice, also ignores her with lines like, "If I could paint, I'd paint that picture" being followed by unrelated action: "The children exchanged comic books."  However, it is her voice that leads them to the Misfit.  Leading them to a plantation that is actually in Tennessee, she tricks her grandchildren into wanting to go.   This story has a lot of tension surrounding the grandmother because she is from an older, more racist and classist, generation, while at the same time she is a pitiable character being routinely ignored and belittled by her family.
        The conflict between dialogue and action also speaks to the power dynamic that is present once they meet the Misfit.  The murder of the rest of the characters is implicit, signaled only by the shots in the woods, while the grandmother attempts to convert the serial killer.  The pacing of her dialogue builds tension throughout the work, coming quicker and quicker towards the end, signaling the hysteria that she feels.  She is simultaneously ineffectual and deluded, working on referent power dynamics that are no longer important, such as telling him "I know you are a good man. You don't look a bit like you have common blood." This emphasis on his social class highlights the disconnect between the two characters: the grandmother things that if she tells the Misfit what kind of man  he is, he won't kill her family.  The Misfit does not care.

A&P

Updike's A&P captures perfectly almost every sensory detail through the eyes of the story's protagonist, Sam. While the actual plot is rather boring - three girls walking in to a grocery store, buy something, manager is rude, cashier quits - Updike is doing a lot under the surface. Throughout the entire piece it seems like the author is gradually building up Sam's frustration with his job. He's constantly watching other customers, indicating that he's bored. The constant references to the store's aisles symbolize that he feels constricted at this job, like the walls are closing in on him so to speak. Sam's description of the three girls is in such vivid detail, i.e.

"here was this chunky one, with the two-piece -- it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale so I guessed she just got it (the suit) -- there was this one, with one of those chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose, this one, and a tall one, with black hair that hadn't quite frizzed right, and one of these sunburns right across under the eyes, and a chin that was too long -- you know, the kind of girl other girls think is very "striking" and "attractive" but never quite makes it, as they very well know, which is why they like her so much --" 

Another interesting instance where Updike has great description is the cashier-typing moment. I think these types of tangents the narrator goes off on really give us some insight into the character and his own sort of insecurity with his current work situation. It's clear that when he quits he's doing it out morals and what he feels is right. This is implied when his manager tries to make him feel bad by saying quitting would upset his parents, but Sam doesn't care. While quitting your job at a grocery store isn't so noble at first, it is in this case because, through Updike's set up, we can assume that Sam always takes orders, and based on the prose, this quitting will be his first, and last, defiant moment at A&P, and I think this micro-achievement in the realm of the story is rather triumphant to writers. We can be an example in terms of plot escalation and building up towards that climactic moment of resolution. 

A&P_Updike Sammy character evolution

The evolution of character is extremely well paced and intriguing throughout the short story. When we first meet Sammy he is a young, semi immature individual who has a wandering eye for the opposite sex. Though he wishes he were above the objectification of the young women, his eyes follow them as much as everyone else’s. The climax of the story, Sammy quitting his job remains in a similar vain of Sammy’s immaturity, because he quits his job in the hopes that the young women will admire and appreciate him. He hides behind the veneer of chivalry to get the young women’s attention.  In the end Sammy is left with a slap across the face by reality, not only has he lost his chance of ever being appreciated or wanted by any of the girls, but he is now forced to face his life like an adult, and start anew.   

A&P, Updike

This piece was strong in the description of its characters and setting, which were both detailed and powerful. I found the story interesting because of the unexpected conflict that arises which takes the story in a completely different way. Through Updike's characterization of Sammy, I found him to be rash in the decisions he made. I felt it worked to both show characterization and push forward the conflict. Through the conflict Sammy was also portrayed as perhaps young because an adult would give the situation a thought before making major decisions. Sammy seems to have made his decision to impress the girls who by the end have left already. I think the ending is powerful becaues it leaves him to bear his consequences, like an adult in the real world.