Separating by john updike theme

Essay

Born in Reading, Pennsylvania on March 1932, John Updike who is the author of “A & P” and other stories which such as; Rabbit, Separating and A Sandstone Farmhouse is considered as one of the greatest modern American writers of his genre. John Updike was 29 years old when he wrote A & P. The author worked for his local news paper “The New Yorker” and became famous after most of his short stories were published in the newspaper. He also wrote poetry, books, nonfiction articles and novels in which the theme of sufferings of average American males in relation to sexuality, religion and familial obligations were main themes. The author also won several awards including the National Medal for the Humanities (2003). He worked on his last book which was published after his death in 2009 due to lung cancer. The major theme of the story is individualism and the consequences that result from the choices made (McFarland, 95).

The story is about a young man who seeks pride and identity after the wasted heroism efforts and wrong decision making in the process. Sammy, a young teenager (assumed in the story), works as a cashier in A&P, a supermarket that caters to the different needs of consumers. One day, in an otherwise ordinary day, in walks three girls clad in skimpy bathing suits which draw everyone’s attention in the entire market including the manager that then reprimands the girls because of wearing such clothes. Immediately the girls who are embarrassed leave the store, Sammy runs ahead to defend them and then quits for he believes that the manager’s actions were unjustifiable. Sammy thinks he is a hero to the girls and leaves the store to go after the girls not realizing that they have long gone without noticing his “valiant” effort (Updike, 26). The story is understandable however; Sammy who is a 19 year old and uneducated is an unreliable narrator. John Updike maintains Sammy’s language colloquial as he begins with sentences using “You know” and “Really”. The narrator of the story who is Sammy, the cashier is an observer to the external conflict between the three girls who distracted him. The pace of the story is consistent, there is more dialogue at the end of the story when Lengel confronts the girls and Sammy still sticks up for them, it speeds up when he makes a drastic decision on impulse and by the end we realize an ordinary thing happened to the narrator.

The setting of the story that is told by him takes place on the afternoon of one Thursday during summer in Massachusetts. Sammy is a typical and well intentioned young man that tries to find his way in the society. other characters include; Queenie who makes a big impression, The girl in the plaid Bikini who is noticed first by Sammy, the tall girl whom Sammy does not find attractive, Lengel the manager of the A & P grocery store and McMahon the butcher who gives directions to the girls and ogles them (Updike,15). One stereotype in this story is Lengel, the manager’s personality and whom Sammy describes as an individual that follows rules without empathy or using any other personal judgment. Lengel proves to the antagonism of Sammy by embarrassing the girls and threatening Sammy of a horrible future. Sammy is also a stereotypical character who exhibits the stereotypical role of a male modern teenager and this is regarded as human nature.

According to McFarland, (96) the setting of the story is in a small resort town in Massachusetts in an A & P grocery store on a Thursday afternoon in summer of the year 1961. This was a time when the cold war was at its height and extreme tension. This was also a time in the US when fear of the Soviet communism way of life led many people to turn their backs on neighbors who demonstrated behaviors or ideas which they saw as “anti-American”. Sammy the first person narrator views adults in the story as followers and indistinguishable from each other and shows he is willing to think differently than most people around him. This helps in growing his part in the story as he goes from complaining about the conflict to doing something about it.

This story uses imagery and symbolism throughout. First off, use of bathing suits which three girls were wearing showed the casual disregard of the girls on the traditions and social norms. Secondly, the herring snacks bought by Queenie to her mother have an impact and take a symbolic value in the eyes of Sammy who imagines the kind of party that such snacks would be offered to in comparison with the parties his parents host. Thirdly, Sammy our antagonist refers to those two girls with Queenie as followers and shoppers in the A&P as “sheep” that is individuals who follow the flock unthinkingly (Updike, 38).

The theme of the story A&P by John Updike is that we should be ready to accept and face the consequences depending on our actions. Ultimately, if we wish to avoid these issues that may arise in the aftermath of our actions, we should be able to think first before we act. In the story, Sammy a young man chooses to stand for something he momentarily believes that is his manager being rude to the three girls which makes him to lose his job and also the girls made the choice to break the tradition and probably would not be accepted back in the grocery store (Updike, 68). Finally, I believe that it is up to an individual to have their own morals and even standards to make choices as per those morals and standards knowing the consequences of those choices and not letting another person guide their freedom of choice.

References

Updike, John. Conversations with John Updike. Univ. Press of Mississippi, 1994. 1-98.

McFarland, Ronald E. "Updike and the Critics: Reflections on" A&P"." Studies in Short Fiction 20.2 (1983): 95.

http://www.goodchoicesgoodlife.org/choices-for-young-people/accepting-responsibility-/