A Woman 's Secret

The wind chime hung from the roof of the abandoned house , it swayed calmly and slowly against the wind , everything seemed peaceful . We - my father and I - sat on the porch of the rundown house that only we knew about . It was dark and I wasn’t the biggest fan of the night , the night is unpredictable but yet so beautiful .

Amber is an 18 year old woman who has found she is feeling sick and unusual. She comes to find out that she is pregnant and consults her doctor. Being concerned of her student status and what her parents might think are her biggest fears. The fetus growing inside her is almost 11 weeks and has her own story from the inside. Mentioning all of the growth that has occurred and the development milestones she has reached, the fetus is concerned of her own well being. The doctor offers Amber the options of abortion and adoption, and then the heart beat will be heard. It is unclear what Amber’s choice is in the end.

This story could make one wonder, how far would you go to get the person of your dreams. Three young ladies walk into the A&P store wearing nothing but bathing suits. The girls catch the attention of Sammy who is the cashier. Sammy watches the girls walk around the store while making mental notes about each one of the girls. When Mr. Lengel the store manager sees the girls, he lets them know that the store policy is to have your shoulders covered and to dress appropriately when you enter the store. This conversation upsets Sammy, so in the moment Sammy spontaneously quits his job in hopes of being the girl’s hero. After Sammy takes off his apron and walks out the door he looks around, but the girls have already gone. Within John Updike’s short story “A&P” the author uses foreshadowing, a dynamic character, and symbolism to show us how life can be unpredictable at times.

Sex appeal holds the boys’ attention as the girls walk around the store; however, it is this sexuality framed against the context of capitalism that stirs Sammy to quit his job.

What truly gets the attention of Sammy is Queenie’s pink bathing suit that had straps that were pushed off which exposed her bare shoulders. He describes that with the straps down you can see just “her” and how she was “more than pretty.” Customers of A & P are in shock when they witness the girls’ appearance in the store. Stokesie, another cashier at A & P who is only three years older than Sammy, is married with two kids. He does not resist fantasizing over the girls. He makes commentary along with Sammy, again clearly displaying the mindset of that age group. The store is quiet, Sammy is anxiously awaiting the girls to come into view as there is nothing else to do. He fabricates scenarios in his head such as which check out aisle they will choose when their shopping has concluded.

It can be argued that men notice girl’s bodies before anything else, however, it becomes creepy when that is all the man focuses on, such as in the case of Sammy and the others in the store. These facts beg the question, are girls really just pieces of meat to be devoured, objects to be observed, or pieces of art to be cherished? On the other hand, these girls did not help themselves much by walking into the store in nothing but their bathing suits. In fact, as Robert Pultier stated, “They are young, but they are also sexual beings, proud, in that often confused way that teenagers are, of their sensuality. They are aware of Sammy watching them and are half self-conscious and half exhilarated by his attention”. These girls seem to be embracing their new role in a man’s mind.

In the story A&P by John Updike a young cashier by the name of Sammy learns about the power of desire and the mystery of others minds when working at an A&P supermarket in a small town north of Boston in the 1960’s, where there was a lot of social norms and many people didn’t step out of them. The young nineteen-year-old Sammy wasn’t expecting his Thursday shift at A&P to go the way it did when income three young girls but, these are not your socially normal teenagers who come walking in the door. The moment these girls walk into the A&P they attract every male eye in the store towards them, which clearly shows the kind of power their sexuality grants them over their opposite sex. In turn, Sammy imagination and interpretation of these

We all have secrets in our life. Everyone is entitled to having personal secrets to a certain extent. Some things are very important to us and therefore we all have to keep our secrets stored in our personal mental diaries. Lots of secrets are pure fantasy we should all be allowed to have. Sometimes, people keep secrets because they are scared to hurt others or relationships with others. There are millions of reasons why we keep secrets.

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