"Adolescence: the period between infancy and adultry." -Ambrose Bierce

 

The young always have the same problem - how to rebel and conform at the same time.  They have now solved this by defying their parents and copying one another.  ~Quentin Crisp

John Updike wrote "A & P" as a young man in his 20's. He is known for concise, to the point stories that capture "the small moments".

He was born in 1932 in Pennsylvania; he won a Pulitzer Prize fro his "Rabbit" Series; many of his works revolve around Small Town America. His mother was a writer, and although poor, Updike went to Harvard. He got his degree in English and worked at "The New Yorker"; many of his stories were made into film.

The era of "A & P" is the 1950's, early 1960's, where social conservatism was mirrrored in the dress code, and when conformity was the measure of popularity and morality.

The culture of the time:  - Economic Prosperity after the war; -Baby Boom; - "keeping up with the Jones'" mentality; - consumerism was on the rise; - conformity; - suburbs; - conservative dress

The manager epitomizes the era; Sammy's actions foreshadow the rebelliousness of the generation to come.

Questions:

Do you like Sammy? Trust his account?

What is his attitude toward the town? The world? What does he mean by "sheep"?

Do you know any people like Sammy? What about like the other characters? Which do you identify with?

How are girls stereotyped? Does Queenie break that? How?

Queenie violates a "rule" and "structure". Does Sammy admire her? Attracted to her? Does he want to be like her?

What does Sammy gain from quitting? - Impress girls? - Do the right thing? -Way out of his job? What does he lose?

Is it a mature decision?

What do you think of his assertion that "once you begin a gesture, it is fatal not to go through with it"?

He says the end is the "sad part of the story"; what is sad about it?

Why the "A & P"? Discuss it as a symbol.

Where will Sammy be in 10 years? Will he think the same way? Why?

Who are the Protagonist and Antagonist of this story? Depending on who you pick will change your reading of the story.

Interview with Updike about "A&P":
http://www.spike.com/video/interview-with-john/1183234
http://www.spike.com/video/interview-with-john/1183234
Movie: http://www.spike.com/video/p/978359

** Sadly, John Updike passed away on Tuesday, 27 January 2009-- the very day that I added these notes to this website.


"Teenage Wasteland"

The 1970's: The activism of the 60's shifts to hedonism (self-pleasure) activities, like drug use, all night dance clubs, swinging, etc. Althought sometimes called the "me decade", there were great strides in environmentalism (which were pulled back during the Reagan Years-- and again during the Bush years). There was a growing anti-establishment mindset continuing from the 1960's: against nuclear family, relgion, and teh government. The feminist and gay rights movements were still going on, and hippie culture was still alive and well. The U.S. experienced an economic recession, while other countries prospered.

The 1980's:

Ronald Reagan was the President from 1981-1989.

Culture: Racial tension was there, but not as overt and public (in other words, bigotry became less public). Rioting frames the decade, 1980 in a poor section of Miami, and again in 1989. The LA riots take place in 1992. Video games became popular-- starting with Atari and Pac-Man in the early 80's and evolving into the Nintendo craze of the later 80's. This was the height of MTV... Synthpop was popular in the early 80's, hair metal in the late 80's. Michael Jackson was the biggest figure in entertainment during the decade. In reaction to the hippie 70's, we got the fashion of big hair, neon clothing, and ripped jeans. Their was much turmoil in the gay community, with AIDS being a newly discovered disease that was wrongly tagged then as afflicting only their community. However, the gay community did get more visibility during this time with the rising popularity of talk show, like Oprah, and of more visible, out-of -the-closet gay celebrities. This also marked the birth of the "Yuppie" generation-- a rising middle class. This was the result of the baby boomers' children coming of age, going to college, and entering the workforce; everyone wanted luxury, and it was an era of "keeping up with the Jones'".  We also saw an increase in "aid", with Live Aid, Feed the Children, etc. Nancy Reagan began her famous "just say no" campaign in response to the rise in drug abuse, but in spite of this, a cocaine epidemic worsened in the U.S.  A rising concern in "child safety" was also marked in this period by seat belt laws, bike helmet laws, etc. The fall of the Berlin wall marked the end of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. 

Right-Wing politics ruled the 1980's. This was an era of "Family Values" and religious revival fervor. Rush Limbaug began broadcasting in 1984. While divorce, abortion, drug use, etc. were all on the rise, "morality" and "religion" were at the center of the public stage. The period was also marked by a series of disasters, including the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, The Challenger space ship disaster, Chernobyl, and the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

A shift takes place in the 1990's as the younger generation views the 80's mentatliy as shallow and a facade. A rejection of the "over the top" luxeries of the 80's takes place. Glamorization dies. Liberalism returns to governement with the election of Bill Clinton in 1992, however, the all-out-Conservative attack on his presidency hinders the progress of the democratic agenda. Children became more disoriented; gen x'ers coming of age in the early 1990's are sometimes referred to as the "doom generation"-- angst ridden, filled with heartache and emptiness sometimes leading to self-destructive behavior. Alternative bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc. and bands like NIN and Marilyn Manson put the nails in the coffins of the hair band era. People traded the glamor, the facade, for simplicity and realism, even if the realism was harsh. A distrust in authority and establishment reemerged, and there was a growing rejection of government, religion, and even local authority (police) and parental authority as well. Independence and rebellion-- but it was on a personal level: the world was still a crazy place, the youth just stopped trying to make sense of it-- stopped pretending the best case scenario.

Ann Tyler

Was born in Minnesota in 1941. While her stories examine conventional family traditions, she did not grow up in a traditional household. Rather, she grew up in a series of experimental communes. Her subjects are people who yearn to escape their families, yet she always stayed close to home until graduating from college. The runaways in her fiction include wives, husbands, fathers, mothers, and children. Sometimes the reasons are clear, sometimes not. She often reflects upon the  problem of self-determination; her characters tend to want to create their own destinies by controlling their environment or rejecting theier parents.

In "Teenage Wasteland", we see a sterotypical mother. The story is dated-- 1980's-- and the setting and dialogue show us that. This is post-sexual revolution... baby boomer parents. These parents are stuck in the middle of the Conservative Reagan Era, and the boy, Donny, yearns to break free. Psychotherapy was increasingly popular and available at this time, and the story also reflects that.

The story uniquely shows this gray area-- between liberal and conservative-- women who are unsure of their place/role in society and in the family. This makes for tricky parenting. How you view the Protagonist/Antagonist of the story will alter your view of it.


Views of Women in the 3 Short Stories:

"A Rose for Emily" (1930):

-Women are gossips; without a man, a woman will go crazy.

- Plays heavily to sterotypes

-Can be arguede whether or not women should be viewed in a sympathetic way.

"The Chrysanthemums" (1937):

-Shows a mixed idea of women; on one hand they are strong-- they take their emotional beatings, deal with inequality, but still come back strong (like the flowers). On the other hand, they are still merely "flowers", and in that respect, are delicate.

-Overall message is a bit mroe positive than "Emily", but still somewhat sad b/c it indicates that while women are strong enough to "survive", they are unable to stand up and speak out in order to "live" as the desire.

"A & P" (1961):

-Mixed and somewhat sterotypical view of women.

-Each day women are oberved in their "habitat", the supermarket, coming to buy the indgredients to fix the daily meals for their husbands and children and to catch up on the town gossip. They are described in the story as "sheep" and "witches". They accept these roles: housewife, mother, almost robotically.

-Then walks in 3 POTENTIAL exceptions to thsi rule. The girls in bathing suits go against the grain; they don't follow the prescribed rules of society. They are free-thinkers and stand up for themselves to a point: Queenie's remark, "we ARE decent" says a lot. But they are still wearing bathing suits and given silly nicknames, which somewhat objectifies them.

-Whether or not you feel the story presents a pro-feminist or anti-feminist view depends on how you react to the debate in the story: "You didn't have to embarrass them" (Sammy); "It was they who were embarrassing us" (Lengel).








 








America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy. -John Updike

Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life. -Updike

Religion enables us to ignore nothingness and get on with the jobs of life. -John Updike