Comparing the Female Protagonists in Groundhog Day and A & P

In "A&P," Sammy is initially drawn to three girls, Queenie, Plaid, and Big Tall Goony Goony, perusing the grocery store and while he is drawn to the leader of the group, Queenie, he soon begins to note how they are a contrast of what middle-class suburbanites consider to be acceptable. Sammy notes,

Sammy begins the story by describing the three girls in bathing suits who have walked into the A & P grocery store. The girl who catches his attention is a chunky girl in a plaid green two-piece swimsuit. As Sammy continues to observe the girls, his interest seems to focus only on the girl who leads the other two into the store. Sammy refers to the girl he likes as "Queenie",someone showing poise and leadership, while the other girls

Transition -- In fact, Supporting point 2 -- when he contemplates what Queenie might be thinking Quote -- he wonders if her head is empty or “a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar” (824). Explain/relate quote to point -- In his mind she and the other girls are objects, not human beings. Transition -- Even the nicknames he makes up show the sexist attitude of an immature teenage boy. Supporting point 3/Quote -- Referring to the one he likes as “Queenie,” to her tall friend as “Big Tall Goony Goony” or other female shoppers as “houselaves” indicates that women in his view have no place or identity beyond themselves(825). Explain/relate quote to point -- indicates that women in his view have no place or identity beyond themselves Transition – further Supporting Point 4 -- His false-chivalric gesture at the end reveals his immaturity. Quote -- He assumes that the girls need an “unsuspected hero” to save them Explain/relate to point --, that they cannot take care of themselves or handle a little embarrassment (827). Concluding sentence -- Clearly, Sammy has much to learn about heroism, chivalry, and

She was the queen with "long white prima-donna legs." Completely distracted by the girls, Sammy rings a box of HiHo crackers twice, infuriating the customer. He describes her as being " One of these cash-register-watchers, a witch of about fifty with rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows, and I know it made her day to trip me up," sarcastically conveying his chauvinistic attitude toward women.

There is a sudden change in Sammy's attitude toward the girls throughout the story. At first, Sammy and his friend's he work

Synopsis of the film: In the film Groundhog Day (1993), the protagonist, Phil is an arrogant and narcissistic weatherman who is not happy with his job. He thinks highly of himself and

Sammy’s obsession with Queenie shows how Sammy doesn’t get much action. He is about a twenty year old guy who is obsessing over a 16 or 17-year-old girl. Sammy gives every single detail about Queenie; for example, he says, “She was the queen. She kind of led them, the other two peeking around and making their shoulders round. She didn’t look around, not this Queen, she just walked on slowly, on these white prima-donna legs.” About 80% of the story is dedicated to the description of Queenie.

The main characters motivation in both of the short stories is exactly the same. Sammy wants to impress the three girls by standing up for them and quitting his job right after his manager just kicked them out while Jimmy wants to impress Mangen’s sister by buying her something in hopes that it will win her love. Each character does something in order to try to get the girls attention. The apparent goal that Sammy and Jimmy are trying to accomplish is winning over the girls love. Sammy definitely had some sympathy towards the three girls that got kicked out of the market which was part of the reason why he quit his job while Jimmy feels a little bit of empathy towards Mangen’s sister because she can’t go to the bazaar so he says, “If I go, I said, I will bring you something,” (page 329).

He can let Lengel’s criticism of Queenie and her friends go, therefore conforming to society’s standards, or he can voice his own opinions and become independent. He appears to come to his own conclusion on what to do when he reminds himself of Queenie’s reaction to Lengel. Updike writes, “but remembering how he made that pretty girl blush makes me so scrunchy inside I punch the No Sale tab and the machine whirs ‘pee-pul’ and the drawer splats out” (167). Sammy then realizes the magnitude of what he has done once he has left the store. Updike writes, “… and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (167). Sammy knows that now, since he has gone against the normalities of society, he will not be looked upon fondly by others around him. Although he may not be liked by all, he has become his own person with his own thoughts, marking his coming of age and transition to adulthood. The external conflict experienced by Sammy in “A&P” helped him transition from conformity to

John Updike, one of the most forward-thinking and socially provocative writers of the 50s and 60s, is known for his “incisive presentation of the quandaries of contemporary personal and social life.” (Lawn 529) Updike graduated from Harvard University and wrote for one of the more cutting edge publications like The New Yorker- both are notoriously ahead of their time and harbor controversial ideas. In his short story “A&P”, Updike reveals a young man named Sammy in a society on the brink of a social revolution- one in which a group of girls and an innocent cashier will unknowingly lead. Updike, through symbolism and syntax, shows how the girls are leading the revolution, how Sammy is feeling the wrath of this revolution, and

In the story “A+P”, Sammy is immediately interested in the three females that enter the grocery store. His interest possibly provoked by the natural tendency of being a young teenage boy and they being three girls dressed in bathing suites alone. Once the three girls make their way through the grocery store, Sammy immediately begins making his own judgment of their character based on the way they walk and the way they look. Sammy while observing the three girls, names the middle girl, “Queenie” simply based on her appearance and the way she walks. He describes Queenie in a condescending way, “She didn’t look around, not this queen, and she just walked straight on slowly, on these long white prima-donna legs. She came down a little harder on her heels…” (Updike 259) After watching the girls walk through the grocery store to find their item he insults their intelligence without having spoken to them, “…(do you really think it’s a mind in there or just a little buzz

Sylvia and Sammy are products of their environments. Being in an unpleasant environment would definitely put any individual on edge. Because both characters are unhappy with their surroundings, both are quite cynical. Aside from comparing one customer to a witch, Sammy also refers to others as “sheep” and points out “house-slaves in pin curlers” (Updike 3). Sylvia is also cynical in the way she talks of Miss Moore. At a point, Sylvia states that she is a “nappy-head[ed] bitch”, which in no means is a proper way for anyone, let alone a child, to speak (Bambara 1). Despite being so cynical, the reader finds that both characters have another side as well. When faced with desire, Sylvia’s and Sammy’s mannerism changes. The reader sees Sylvia in a whole new way when she sets eyes on the fiberglass sailboat. In fact, Sylvia’s entire persona changes. Not only is she dumbfounded by the price of the sailboat, but she is awestruck by its greatness. She grows quite mad about the price; nonetheless, this is the beginning of the change of her character and train of thought. This is where she realizes the economic imbalance of the world. Similarly to how Sylvia was taken by the sailboat, Sammy is captivated by the girls’ physical appearance, especially Queenie. This is made evident by the imagery of the text from his physical description of them. Bambara and Updike

The intense interaction between Lengel and Queenie escalates into a small argument, resulting in Queenies embarrassment “Queenies blush is no sunburn now” (194). Lengel decides to end their interaction by restating policy, and communicating with Sammy that it is time to ring up their purchases. The opportunity for Sammy to act on his feelings has now arrived, the intense conversation, coupled with the numerous external cues regarding Queenie, has bombarded his thought process, and he has aggregated ever clear his intention to draw closer to her, and ultimately derives the motivation for the next two words he speaks, “I quit” (195). Sammy hopes that these brazen words will capture the attention and kinship of the girls, to form his ever so desired connection, “hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unsuspected

The theme of the story can be about individualism or perhaps that ones choices as an individual can and will have consequences. When Queenie and the two other girls enter the store in only their bathing suits, they were displaying their individuality together, but they also had to face the consequences for that when Lengal embarrassed them at the till. Another example of the theme is when Sammy quit (trying to impress the girls) he neither got the girl and now has no job. The way the story was written in the first person made Sammy’s character very believable to me, because it allowed me to see what he was thinking, and what he was thinking was similar to me as a teenager, shortsighted and with an obsession with girls. What I found most engaging

Queenie is the first leader that is observed in the story. She is immediately described as “the queen (Updike 2)” and is portrayed as having natural and absolute command of her group of three. Her specific movements and posture indicate her status as a leader, from the fact that she “didn’t look around (Updike 2)” to the other girl’s natural tendency to “peek around her (Updike 2)”. Queenie exudes obvious surface level qualities of leadership, and these base level qualities lead to her representation of her community. The girls come from the upper-class area of the ocean side and have a different set of societal standards. They are seen in the grocery store literally “walking against the usual traffic (Updike 3)”, and the “glare (Updike 3)” cast upon them by the middle-class population of the grocery store solidifies their status as outsiders. Queenies representation of general high-class mannerisms also shows up at eye level. She is described as having her “head held so high that her neck looked kind of stretched (Updike 2).” This kind of “better than you” attitude is a stereotype of high society, and Queenie exudes it in the way she conducts herself and showed her two friends “how to do it (Updike 2)”.