John Updike: One of the Most Talented Writers of the Twentieth Century

In the writing of the story, A&P, John Updike gave beauty to the peculiarity of adolescence revealed in a peculiar story set in a convenience store. Updike equipped the story with a first-person narrator, dramatic irony, and an interesting setting. Those devices served to realistically portray the naive tone of a lost, soon-to-be adult.

John Updike’s short story, “A & P,” which made its first appearance in The New Yorker in 1961, is arguably one of the shortest and funniest literary pieces found in college literature anthologies taught in American schools. Perhaps, its appeal and peculiarity stem from the fact that Sammy, who doubles up as the narrator and protagonist in the story, is trying to explain, from his point-of-view, his impulsive decision to quit his cashier job at the A & P supermarket. In the story, the author uses the protagonist to develop the theme of immaturity. Throughout the plot, Updike seems to suggest that Sammy’s childish behaviors, as is exemplified by his judgmental attitude, ill-mannered personality, and sexist thoughts, can explain why he impulsively quit his job. This paper explores the thematic concern of immaturity by focusing on the immature behaviors of the protagonist.

Updike describes his characters using personification, stating they are obedient, have flaws and manners, and change clothes. When the characters change clothes, it is because Updike makes the decision to put them into something different, the characters are obedient because the author and creator of the characters make them obedient and does not write that they are disobedient. As Updike continues creating his novel, the characters continue to grow, changing as the novel does from chapter to chapter. The novelist knows that the characters have flaws “bandages unravel,” but even though he says he loves them, he does not fix the flaws the characters have. Updike says that he

    Postmodernism is a form of literature which is marked both stylistically and ideologically, by a reliance on such literary conventions as unreliable narrators , parody, unrealistic plots, dark humor and authorial self-reference.  A Girl’s Story written by David Arnason is a perfect example of postmodernism because David tends to ignore the traditional limitation of structure. He uses the power of his mind to develop his story (A Girl’s Story). David uses the cultures and classes to create a limitation free story that anyone can enjoy and understand.

Where does truth lie? Postmodernism is a literary movement of the twentieth century that attempts to show that the answer to this question cannot be completely determined. Characteristics of postmodern works include a mixing of different genres, random time changes, and the use of technology that all aid in presenting a common postmodern theme that truth doesn’t lie in one story, place or person. The novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer encompasses these postmodern characteristics combining together show how the truth cannot always be attained.

Updike was born in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1923. Since he was born in Reading, I think it was meant to be for him to be a writer. Although John Updike was born in Reading, he grew up in Shillington, Pennsylvania. Once Updike ended his high school years, he received a full scholarship to Harvard, where he would major in English. When the author graduated from Harvard with his Bachelor’s Degree, he then moved on to study drawing and fine art at Oxford. Updike enjoyed art as much as he enjoyed writing.

Try and remember what it was like to be a teenager. The short story “A&P” tells the coming of age story of a nineteen year old boy named Sammy. Sammy has unknowingly placed himself into a situation that many small town adolescents often fall victim to. Sammy has a dead end job, and he feels as though he will be stuck working at the local “A&P” while life passes him by. This is until a chance encounter with three young female customers changes his course from mini vans and diapers to a welcomed new and uncertain future. After a close examination of the text, Sammy doesn’t quit his job because of the girls, he quits knowing that a dead end job is not what he is meant for.

Literature changed drastically between the nineteenth-century and twentieth and twenty-first century. Idealistic views that British writers once held, turned into skepticism as Great Britain enter war and inequalities grew greater. The writers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries wrote realistically what was happening in the world. The Moment before the Gun Went Off by Nadine Gordimer and “The Day They Burned the Books” by Jean Rhys are both stories that show the shattering of Idealism in twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

John Updike is considered to be one of the greatest modern American writers. He was able to use his All-American upbringing as inspiration for a lot of his writing, making it relatable to many people. Updike was born in Reading, Pennsylvania on March 18, 1932. He moved around in the area during his childhood, and the rural Pennsylvania setting of his youth is often reflected in his writing. His father was a school teacher and his mother was an aspiring writer. He excelled in school, and worked for his local newspaper. Updike was granted a scholarship to Harvard, and went

Sexuality and personal growth has and always will be a topic of conversation in real life and even in fiction short stories. The idea of sexuality has just recently not only became an open idea to discuss but one to also write and publish about. Both Alice Munro and John Updike both illustrate the idea of sexuality and personal growth in very different ways. “The Found Boat” by Alice Munro, deals with sexuality in an aggressive manner while “A&P” by John Updike, deals more with the idea of sexuality rather than sexuality itself. They also have very similar elements of fiction that include (but is not limited to) characters, theme and conflict. The characters relate in both

John Updike is viewed by his readers as a progressive voice in his work that promotes feminist issues. He makes these issues stand out more evidently, rather than hidden, in order for the reader to realize how women are viewed in society. From reading Updike’s A&P, the story sends the message to readers of genders working together to strive for equality. If readers do not carefully and actively read A&P they may miss key messages about the power men hold over women, not just in society but in literature as well. Even though Updike’s A&P seems to be a story about a teenager finally standing up to his boss and quitting the job he hates, the tone used reveals the hidden message on how women are in a male-oriented world. The relationship between both men are women are shown as unequals, men on the top and women always below them, Updike makes sure to open up the reader 's eyes in realizing the way females are being treated unfairly.

The birth of the modernist movement in American literature was the result of the post-World War I social breakdown. Writers adopted a disjointed fragmented style of writing that rebelled against traditional literature. One such writer is William Faulkner, whose individual style is characterized by his use of “stream of consciousness” and writing from multiple points of view.

Through critical analysis, historical research, and textual evidence, a study on Kurt Vonnegut’s background will be conducted in order to display the effects that the era in which he lived had on his writing.

The “beat movement” is a literary period born out of World War II. This movement in American Literature has become an important period in the history of literature and society in America. Characterized by personal alienation and contempt for convention, the movement celebrated stylistic freedom and spontaneity. The Beat writers created a new vision of modern life and altered the nature of awareness in America.

Rolling into the late 19th and early 20th century, modernistic literature became the style of writing. Modernistic thinking was a rebellion against realism, in which the literature was very abstract. The writers of that time period were experimental and used unusual techniques. There were four sub-categories of modernism: surrealism, cubism, existentialism, and dadaism. Surrealism and existentialism were the most popular of the four. Surrealism was very dreamy-like writing, such as the work done by an artist named Daly. Existentialism dealt with the belief that the human existence had free will- there were no gods and humans had control of there own philosophy. Writers such as Camus were existentialists. The final literary movement that will be discussed is postmodernism. Postmodernism was an attempt by many artists to arrive at a united, global culture. Postmodernists had optimistic views that things could get better. Instead of concentrating on the fragments of destruction, they gathered all of the fragments together and made an optimistic outlook.