#9 Assigned 9/7

Intro and A&P:

Key elements of fiction
• Plot
• Character
• Setting
• Point of View
• Theme
• Symbolism
• Style and Tone

All of these exist very nicely within John Updike's story. However, what consumes me the most is how a&P reminds me of my own first job. Sammy worked at the A&P; I worked at Johnny Rockets. That's right! Johnny Rockets, the 50's-style burger joint. And yes, I had to dance every fifteen minutes to songs that pre-existed my parents. Songs to forever cause my foot to tap. Legal prostitution at 2.15/hour, we lived off tips. And these tips depended on how happy our families were with our dancing...I know!

What I really treasure about A&P is Updike's description while his eyes follow the girls around the store. He states, "I look straight up this aisle to the meat counter, and watch them all the way. The fat one...fumbled with the cookies" (453). His imagery is pointed in endless ways, leaving a taste within readers of what exactly Sammy is experiencing here. Sammy continues on how the girls "shuffled out of sight behind a pyramid of Diet Delight peaches" (454).

What I find most ammusing is how Sammy romanticizes these girls into Virgin Mary status. Sammy seems to be in a daze describing these girls, however, they do not seem that beautiful, stunning. I guess within the A&P and following a dull day of swiping food, girls (any girls) half-dressed might appear so attractive.

This definitely happended to me at Johnny Rockets. I worked up to 10-hours during the week, receiving maybe 3 tables during these night-shifts. Girls I would not find so attractive in my right mind made my head spin as they ordered their greasy cow meat, dipped in cheese. Everything appears beautiful after standing unending hours over pools of grease, watching potato-wedges sizzle.

I can sympathize with Sammy.
Peace.