Term Paper on "Generational Conflict and Adult Decision-Making in John"

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Generational Conflict and Adult Decision-Making in John Updike's short story "A&P"

The short story "A&P," by John Updike (410), first published in 1962, focuses on a moral/social dilemma suddenly, unexpectedly experienced one summer afternoon by a teenage boy, Sammy, who works as a check-out clerk at the neighborhood grocery store, the a &

Sammy's boss, Mr. Lendel, is a strait-laced, unimaginative pillar of Sammy's small east coast community. He teaches Sunday school each week and has for years; and Sammy's parents have been friends of his for years, too. At the end of the story, Sammy, in order to be true to himself, makes a decision about either staying at his job or quitting it that changes all of that. The choice he makes is the tougher but for him the more authentic one. Still, afterward: Looking back in the big windows, over the bags of peat moss and aluminum lawn furniture stacked on the pavement... my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter" (Updike, 411).

P" focuses on the tension Sammy feels between allegiance to a&P; his boss, and by association, his parents, and the rights of three teenage girls to dress as they please inside the store, even though Mr. Lendel voices to them his disapproval of their wearing only bikinis inside the "A&P," then quickly adds, "It's our policy" ("A&P"), retreating safely behind that well-worn phrase. Before that moment of truth, though, a strong sexual surge of energy had coursed through Sammy's visceral response to the physical attractiveness of the girls, the one he has named "Queenie" in particular. When the girls arrive at his check-out counter

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with a bottle of pickled herring, the sole purchase among them, and the girl paying hands him a folded bill, Sammy states: "I uncrease [sic] the bill, tenderly as you may imagine, it just having come from between the two smoothest scoops of vanilla I had ever known were there, and pass a half and a penny into her narrow pink palm, and nestle the herrings in a bag and twist its neck and hand it over, all the time thinking." This inspires him to stand up for what he believes in, and he is forced to accept the consequences of his decisions and actions, and by association and the likely disapproval of adult society (and especially his parents; although, as Updike implies, Sammy's grandmother would have liked his decision to quit).

Sammy's tone as narrator is intended by the author to sound (and it does) more rebellious; irreverent and sarcastic than Sammy himself actually is, deep down. True, he is just a teen, and is probably just starting to even think for himself; in giving him voice, John Updike therefore, obviously and effectively, employs teenage idioms and cadences of the time. Still, though he does not speak like one, Sammy is a person of reflectivity and conscience, e.g., he recognizes to himself his real concern, at story's-end, about how the decision he has made will impact his family in this small, obviously judgmental community, and only after that about how it may impact himself now and later.

The environment of Mr. Lendel's a&P, from which Sammy now walks away for good, also represents the broader societal laws and regulations with which Sammy and others must regularly comply. Sammy has up-to-now been working within the rules and structures created and enforced by the adult world, e.g., he is forced to wear a uniform, apron and bow tie. He must obey behavior codes and is under the close watch of his adult customers as well: those who have "been watching cash registers for 50 years" (Updike, 408). Further, presence of banks and a church right outside the a&P represent the ever-present rules and commandments of everyday life that few (probably including him until today) ever question.

Though Sammy cannot articulate this fact, Mr. Lendel in rebuking the girls for their dress has breached Sammy's values - so much that Sammy realizes afterward that he must quit his job, whatever the consequences. In a larger sense, though, Sammy is challenging society's arbitrary and restrictive rules, and those at the neighborhood a&P are the ones he can either abide by, by continuing to work here; or not, by quitting.

But as is clear even early on in the story, Sammy is less-than-enthralled with his a&P job. He feels estranged from a&P's typical customers. One he thinks of as "a witch about fifty with rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows, and I know it made her day to trip me up" (Updike, "A&P," 408). He calls other customers, scornfully, "sheep" [i.e., unthinking conformists, which, as it turns out, he himself definitely is not]; and he notices with distaste that some women strolling the aisles have "varicose veins mapping their legs" (409). Obviously, he can scarcely identify with such older, set-in-their-ways people. All that changes instantly, though, when three attractive girls his age saunter barefoot, bikini-clad, into the a&P, and spotting them, his boss Mr. Lendel voices sanctimonious disapproval of how little they wear. After the girls leave the store with their one tiny purchase, Sammy knows he must acknowledge and act on sudden, unfamiliar new feelings of outrage at how Mr. Lendel has just treated the girls - at no benefit to himself he must now side with the quickly-disappearing girls, not Mr. Lendel - inside what has instantly become a workplace microcosm of generational contrasts in attitudes and values on appropriate dress, sexuality, and even self-expression generally.

At this moment,

Sammy chooses to remain true to his values, quitting his a&P job on the spot; and being willing also to accept the consequences. Sammy's quitting his job at Mr. Lendel's a&P represents, as casually as Updike may describe it, a profound coming of age experience that will resonate, for better or worse beyond the a&P itself, and long past this sunny afternoon. His late grandmother perhaps "would have been pleased" (Updike, 411), if not his parents. Still, he walks away from his former place of employment, without looking back.

Essay 2: Home-Alone (and terrified) in Joyce Carol Oates's short story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been'

The short story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been' by Joyce Carol Oates, in which pretty teenage Connie, who prefers hanging out with her female friends to weekend outings with her family, is one afternoon with family away severely frightened by a predatory, wolfish-looking young man reminiscent of Little Red Riding Hood's "Big Bad Wolf" (replete with shaggy hair and big, gleaming, white teeth). In "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" Joyce Carol Oates seems to define evil not only through the actions of the evildoer(s), but also from within the vivid imagination of the would-be victim, Connie.

Through fairy-tale-like descriptions of wolfish Arnold Friend; his accomplice Ellie Oscar (who visits too) and Connie's fear of them both, Oates employs thematic concept of evil (i.e., Arnold and Ellie) as an omnipresent, fairy tale-like symbolic force; albeit one that exists only in their relationship to Connie as prey. Connie, for her part, seems to live at present in a sort of uneasy limbo-state between childhood and adulthood. She is a child at home and acts and even looks that way; but away from home, she is an adult, or at least tries to seem one. As Joyce Carol Oates describes her early on, for example:

She wore a pull-over jersey blouse that looked one way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home. Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home: her walk, which could be childlike and bobbing, or languid enough to make anyone think she was hearing music in her head; her mouth, which was pale and smirking most of the time, but bright and pink on... evenings out (paragraph 5)

Oates seems to suggest here that Connie sheds her adult feelings faster than a scared sheep's brave-wolf clothing when a predator appears; adultness leaves her like Little Red Riding Hood's absent grandma, just when she needs it most in order to think clearly. Here Oates symbolizes evil's embodiment in the form of rapacious older men in a gold jalopy, especially the more talkative and aggressive one, a shaggy-haired individual who calls himself (ironically) Arnold Friend. As Connie grows more frightened of Arnold's escalating threats, she allows her imagination to run wild, to the point where she can neither think clearly nor even manage to call the police. Before he visits her, Connie has already encountered Arnold Friend earlier, while out with girlfriends. Then she half-teased, half blew him off - acting and feeling the confident young adult she really is not. Later Connie's make-believe confidence vanishes faster than a wolf-in-grandma's-clothing fleeing grandma's bed - the wolfish Arnold (in convertible) arrives at Connie's door with no one else home.… READ MORE

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Quoted Instructions for "Generational Conflict and Adult Decision-Making in John" Assignment:

“

These three stories are going to be on a midterm exam this Thursday, May 31, 2007.

I would like you to write 2 pages for each story (6 pages total) focusing on the instructor's preparation instructions and my six point summary below, to help me prepare for the exam. Also included please find "Some of Bruce Tambling's ideas on the Three Stories." Please utilize my seed ideas to the extent that you feel is advisable.

Please document the page and paragraph number for all quotes used.

Three Stories:

- "Where are You Going, Where Have You Been,***** by Joyce Carol Oates

- "A & P," by John Updike

-"The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka

Instructor's "Fiction Midterm Exam" Preparation Suggestions:

Review stories lectures and discussion forums. You should know the theme you*****d like to explore for each story and how to define it. A theme is the underlying general truth about human behavior or the human condition that the story suggests. You should already have in mind several passages that reveal that theme. You should know the motivations and limitations of characters. You should have a sense of how the story or its aspects are working on a symbolic level. You should know how to discuss the elements of the story as they reveal meaning and enhance a theme. You should know how to apply particular lenses to a story. You should know how to put the story in a cultural context. You should know how to present long and short quotes. You should know how to develop your paragraphs so that they are tightly structured to show the truth of your interpretations.

Six Point Summary:

1) You should know the theme you*****d like to explore for each story and how to define it.

2) You should already have in mind several passages that reveal that theme.

3) You should know the motivations and limitations of characters.

4) You should have a sense of how the story or its aspects are working on a symbolic level.

5) You should know how to apply particular lenses to a story.

6) You should know how to put the story in a cultural context.

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Some of Bruce Tambling's ideas on the Three Stories:

A & P, by John Updike (410)

The setting of the story is in a grocery store a few miles from a beach in Main. The narrator has what people from the West coast describe as an East Coast rebellious attitude or *****defiant edge.*****

The grocery store has a very conservative customer base that reacted in shock to see the girls in only their bathing suits, as they would "jerk, hop or hiccup" (409) when they saw the girls. The setting is further emphasized by the store manager Lengel. Lengel is ultra conservative, teaches Sunday school, and strongly disapproves of the girls***** attire, and he tells them to dress decent next time they come in the store. It is a very conservative, constricting setting. The presence of the two banks and Congressional Church right outside the door is an ever present reminder of conservative authority.

Psychoanalytical lens.

This story is about a young man who chooses to quit his job in a grocery store in response to the way his boss treats some teenage girls.

The point of view is first person narrator as Sammy describes bikini clad girls waltzing in ways only a teenage boy can do when he describes their body parts as "the two smoothest scoops of vanilla I had ever known were there." (411)

From a psychoanalytical approach, Sammy is pushing the boundaries of himself, discovering himself beyond the paternal controlling of external rules. This is a rite of passage as he affirms, proclaims and expresses his true inner and personal beliefs to the controlling archetypal authority father figure represented by the manager. This is symbolic of challenging his father and affirms Sammy's own independence as a man.

As part of this initiation, Sammy must accept the consequences of his actions and is thrust into the real world of independence, which is a birthing into adulthood and a declaration of his true self. His innermost being physically affirms that he has crossed the path of no return as his "stomach kind of fell" (411).

This is a small town close to Boston, a few miles from the beach. It is a time when views toward sexuality were more conservative and restricting. During this time period when you could buy "Kingfish Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream" for 49 cents, walking into a grocery store in a bathing suit was literally considered "indecent." This cultural mindset reminds me of the old Maybury RFD TV shows in the 1960s when the whole town would freak out if they heard about girls in bikinis. That time is in contrast to American culture today, where most beach front community dwellers would not blink an eye.

TOPIC 2A

Disclaimer: I went *****off the deep end***** in this analysis. Although I believe I am on to something, but I ran out of time to adequately support my argument with any degree of clarity. So with that in mind-â†’>>

A & P, by John Updike (410) is a short story about a teenage boy who challenges authority and the moral values of adult society. A sexual energy, the creative life force, expresses itself through Sammy's interaction with the girls. This inspires him to stand up for what he believes in, and he is forced to accept the consequences of his decisions and actions.

Sammy's tone as the narrator is rebellious, irreverent and sarcastic. It is clear that he is not exactly enthralled with his job at the A & P when he describes his customer as a witch that "would have burned [her] over in Salem" (408). He calls the other customers "sheep" and fat women with varicose veins mapping their legs" (409).

The environment of the market represents the laws and regulations with which Sammy must comply. Sammy is working within the rules and structures created and enforced by the adult world. He is forced to wear a uniform, apron and bow tie. He must obey behavior codes and is under the close watch of his adult customers who have "been watching cash registers for 50 years" (408). The presence of the banks and church right outside the store represent the overbearing, omnipresent influence of social, financial and religious rules and commandments to which he is expected to conform.

Sammy is not happy with these restrictions or social views and has no intention of following in the shoes of his coworker Stokesie. Stokesie is only twenty-two and is already incarcerated in the institution of marriage with a wife and two kids.

The girls represent and are an embodiment of the Divine Goddess Shakti and caused the primal energy in Sammy's root chakra to ascend upwards through the internal energy pathways known as Nadis, which are similar to acupuncture meridians. Connected to these pathways are other energy centers, known as chakras. If the nadis and chakras are blocked or clogged in anyway, such as negative emotions, those negative traits can be amplified and even explode in the person's face. If the pathways are open and clean the person will experience bliss, peace and enlightenment. In Sammy's case, the rising energy hit some core issues, such as anger, lust and judging others in a negative fashion. In this case, Sammy could "not handle the energy."

His feelings of wanting to be free from the bondage of these limitations are amplified by the presence of the girls. The girls represent the sexual aspect of the universal feminine principle and it's effect on the male. The girls***** presence awakens Sammy's masculine desires and increases the intensity of his thoughts and feelings. Sexual energy is a major creative force and the girls ignite this force within Sammy to the point where he has no choice but to express himself. The sexual energy in a young man is a strong force that can be expressed in a wide range of ways, from artistic to violent. His conscious mind is distracted and infatuated with the girls. On a deeper unconscious level, the sexual energy of the girls***** presence and Sammy's sexual desire unlock and release his innermost feelings.

Sammy is not happy in this environment and the girls push him over the edge to express himself in an unprecedented fashion. The primordial energy, at the base of his spine, swelled within him so strong that he could not control himself and actually barely knew what he was doing. When Lengel asks Sammy if he has rung up the purchase, Sammy was focused on the "two smoothest" (411) breasts he had ever seen. He was mesmerized and enchanted with sexual energy. The words "I quit" emerged from within him unexpectedly. Sammy narrates almost like he is watching himself say these things, like he is detached, disconnected and passively observing.

Sammy stood up against authority and expressed himself. The girls provide the energy, the impetus, the sexual charge and stimulation that ignite Sammy's actions. He has no choice but to express his inner personal truth. Without stimulation from the girls, this may have never happened. This is a rite of passage for Sammy. He realizes the consequences of his actions and "how hard the world is going to be [to me] hereafter" (411). This is part of his initiation into adulthood.

He still has a lot to learn and is just starting to harness and integrate his creative life force. Lengel, the store manager, gives Sammy the opportunity to reconsider. It's a sign of maturity and wisdom to be able to step back, take a breath and admit that you were wrong. But Sammy is not mature enough to consider the option. As the girls leave the store, Sammy no longer receives the juice that fed and ignited his feelings. The end of the story leaves Sammy alone without the additional female energy. As he returns to his normal consciousness, he begins to realize the ramifications of his outburst, and his "stomach kind of fell" (411).

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Where are You Going, Where Have You Been

In "Where are You Going, Where Have You Been?," (186) by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie is portrayed as a typical teenage girl struggling through the inevitable transition into adulthood. Her struggle includes shifting between the multiple roles she plays with her parents, sister, friends and boys. She is infatuated with herself and tries to project confidence despite her teenage insecurities. Connie's confrontation with Arnold show how innocent and vulnerable she is. Arnold appears much older to Connie, "maybe 30 or more" (192), and he attempts to seduce her beyond the boundaries of her current identity.

Arnold uses psychological intimidation and even threats of physical violence to try and manipulate Connie into having sex with him. Connie experiences a wide range of confusion and emotions; she is intrigued, scared, flattered and excited all at the same time. She is being offered the chance to step outside the boundaries of her childhood and take a journey into womanhood. Even though her decision has potential risks, she decides to step into the unknown and surrender herself into the hands of Arnold. Maybe she is deceived by him, or, maybe, she realizes her own power and chooses to go with Arnold knowing that she is the one in control.

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The Metamorphosis

In the essay "The Metamorphosis: Overview," Susanne Klingenstein wrote "despite the strange nonchalance with which Gregor accepts his transformation, the course of the story makes clear that 'it was no dream'.***** I agree that Gregor has a strange nonchalance. Although there is some initial denial by Gregor when he thinks *****What if I slept a bit longer and forgot all this foolishness,***** (paragraph 3) reality affirms that he is indeed a bug when he can't even maneuver into his usual sleeping position. Instead of becoming consumed with panic and anxiety about being a bug, Gregor's whimsical internal dialog continues in a very matter of fact tone. He contemplates his "strenuous profession" requiring "traveling day in, day out," (4) and makes plans for getting dressed and having breakfast to catch the next train. The denial factor continues as Gregor "didn*****t doubt in the least that the change in his voice was nothing more than the harbinger of a hearty cold." He has every intention to continue on with business as usual.

The essay cites Theodor W. Adorno recommending *****the principle of literalness as the first rule" which means "take everything literally; cover up nothing with concepts invoked from above." I agree with this approach in reading and analyzing The Metamorphosis. Klingenstein's essay mentions many interpretations from a psychoanalytical view including Gregor becoming a bug because of his guilt towards his father and "unconscious infantile desires." My interpretation is much more literal. Gregor turns into a bug. Try as we might to analyze the deeper meaning and causes of this event, no one can really know why this has happened. It simply is. I feel a great deal of compassion for Gregor, and his family, and am more concerned with how they cope with the issues than looking for symbolic meaning. I can understand the tendency to view the story as a metaphysical allegory, but the day to day challenges of the present moment for both Gregor and his family are significant as well.

Researching literary criticism on The Metamorphosis, I was surprised to find a consensus of opinions that this is an autobiographical piece of writing, and that parts of the story reflect Kafka's own life. Evidently Kafka felt like an insect in his father's authoritative presence and even developed a stammer while speaking to him. Like Gregor, Kafka was forced to take an office job out of a sense of duty to his family. He hated the job and wanted more time to write. His sister, Ottla, was usually understanding and supportive to him. But, in this instance, she turns against him insisting that he work in the office. Kafka felt that she had betrayed him, and that night he actually contemplated suicide!

Regardless of this autobiographical insight, my research indicates that Kafka's writing style offers opportunity for a wide range of interpretations that many critics are drawn to explore.

Literature: Authors: K: Kafka, Franz. Open Directory Project .http://dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/Authors/K/Kafka,_Franz/ 2007

B. Theme and Setting

One of the themes in The Metamorphosis is the search for personal identity. Gregor's major reason to exist has been to help support his family. Turning unto a bug shatters this image of himself and destroys his most important purpose in life: making money for his family. The setting of his room keeps Gregor surrounded in a environment that supports his internal dialog and reflections. The room is, of course, familiar and also nurturing and comforting to him. The setting of his room keeps him isolated and protected from outside influences so he can contemplate his identity and how to best move forward. The room also has a door connecting to the rest of the house which gives him contact and support with the rest of the family. The setting of this short novel never goes outside of the small apartment, until after Gregor dies, and this keeps the focus on Gregor's quest for personal identity from becoming diffused with other distractions.

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