Jesse Ericksen Ms.

Phillips College Writing 5 16 April 2012 Literary Realism in John Updikes A & P In his short story, A & P, John Updike emphasizes many characteristics of the literary realism movement that lasted roughly from the year 1860 to 1900. In realism, the emphasis tends to focus on the individual and their experience, rather than stories that hold a greater meaning. This emphasis can be easily noted in A & P which is written completely from the more than disjointed and arguably scattered perspective of a simple check-out clerk in what seems to be a small town grocery store. A second literary element that is significant in both realism and Updikes work is diction. In A & P specifically, diction plays a large role and leads the reader to come to see the narrators background through unorthodox ways. Lastly, themes in A & P are closely tied to realism. Including elements like these, John Updikes A & P clearly fits into the literary realism movement. The plot in A & P is focused completely on one individual, Sammy, a grocery clerk whose perspective while only providing a narrow and even unreliable account of the situation, is also overtly descriptive (especially in regards visual information). For instance, after Sammy is distracted by a group of girls who walk into the store while hes at work, he explains: I stood there with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not. I ring it up again and the customer starts giving me hell. She's one of these cashregister-watchers, a witch about fifty with rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows, and I know it made her day to trip me up. She'd been watching cash registers forty years and

probably never seen a mistake before. (Updike 1273) This passage represents an interesting aspect of the short story which is that the plot is driven by Sammys disjointed perspective. The reader is given unnecessary information, but is instead allowed to relate closer to the narrator or the individual than the usual problem/resolution format that is present in most stories. Thus, the reader sees the story from the eyes and thoughts of Sammy without any other information; which is a huge tie to literary realism. Later on in the story, after the group of girls Sammy was heavily focused on were yelled at by Sammys boss, Sammy quits his job at the grocery store. Sammy describes his account, The girls, and who'd blame them, are in a hurry to get out, so I say "I quit" to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they'll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero. (Updike 1276). From any other perspective, Sammys decision to quit would seem out of the blue and irrational, but since the plot is driven by the perspective of the individual, the reader knows Sammys real focus was on the girls and trying to become their unsuspected hero. While much of the integrity of the piece is lost by having the focus completely derive from one persons experience, beneath the superficiality, Updikes A & P captures true essence of the situation from the individuals perspective. This technique is a vital part of the realist movement. This focus on the individual quickly draws the reader into the major theme of both realism and the story: people vs. nature. Sammys decision to quit was primarily drawn by his misconceived notion that his quitting could be some sort of heroic act that would in turn lead him to fulfill his fantasy as some sort of a hero to the girls he admired and in turn be his escape from the struggling life that he lived. Quickly after the words spit out of his mouth, Sammy realizes this is not true in the world. Instead he is faced head on to the problematic effects of his impulsive decision. After Sammy realizes its too late to change his mind, his realizes that his

bosses words, "You'll feel this for the rest of your life," (Updike 1276), are completely true. Sammy is quickly dragged out of his imagination and left stranded in the real world, with real problems to face as a result of his reckless desire. Furthermore, when he gets out the door, he looks around for [his] girls, but they're gone, of course. There wasn't anybody but some young married screaming with her children about some candy they didn't get... (Updike 1276). This highly emphasizes the theme of human vs nature. While Sammys decision to quit was primarily to impress the girls, they not didnt notice, but were gone by the time he got out the door. Sammys account is proof that life doesnt always play out the way we want it to. His impulsive desire left him stranded to face the consequences of nature alone. The theme of human vs. nature was a key component of literary realism and Updikes story. Diction in A & P completely changed the way the story was displayed, and managed to tell the reader a lot about Sammys background without explicitly providing it. The most noticeable aspect of diction in the story are the frequent grammar mistakes and overall sentence structure which seem to ramble more than they do coherently describe the situation. For instance, while Sammy is creepily watching the group of girls he notes, and then they all three of them went up the cat-and-dog-food-breakfast-cereal-macaroni-rice-and-raisins-seasonings-spreadsspaghetti-soft-drinks-crackers-and-cookies aisle. (Updike 1274). There is so much wrong with this sentence, including but not limited to they all three of them; the far to many ands creating a hard to follow run-on; and the completely unnecessary expansion of all the items that happen to be in the irrelevant aisle. Although it can be hard to follow, it is the sort of dialect that should be expected from a uneducated young adult who works a low-wage job from a bluecollar family. When and if the reader does make it through Sammys unconventional ramblings, they (are intended to) understand his motives better because of his diction. Diction thus is very

important in the story A & P, and in literary realism overall, as it allows the reader to connect and understand more about the individual who often comes from different backgrounds than are usually written about in literature. This is another key aspect of literary realism, the emphasis on telling the story from different peoples angles (race, gender...). With diction, A & P tells the story of a young adult whose family is struggling to make ends meet economically, and has suffered educationally as a result. This angle gives the reader a completely different feeling in regards to Sammys decisions at the climax and leaves the reader with a well understood rational for Sammys anticipations for the future, and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter. (Updike 1277). Literary realism succeeds in capturing the individuals perspective and the feelings that they are going through. Diction is a major component that helps to connect the reader to perspectives that are often hard for one to relate. Updikes use of diction, theme and emphasis on the individual provide an in depth view of how significant this seemingly trivial scenario was for Sammys life and his motives for doing it. Reality is described completely as it is for Sammy, in comprehensive detail. This technique resembles the core of literary realism which is defined as the faithful representation of reality. With elements from this movement, it becomes clear that A & P does not only fall into the category of literary realism, but that is more meaningful because of it. A & P is a great example of how realism succeeded in telling the perspectives of people from all different backgrounds in the late 19th century when society was still narrow minded compared to todays standards. In this way, Updikes, A & P doesnt just tell the Sammys story, but it is a representation of the cultural change that was going on in American society, where after the Civil War, people began to open up to others from different backgrounds than their own. A & P by John Updike is a valid representation of the literary realism movement and the concurrent events going on in society at

the time.

Works Cited Campbell, Donna M. "Realism in American Literature, 1860-1890." Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. Web. 18 April 2012. SparkNotes Editors. SparkNote on A&P. SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 16

Apr. 2012. Updike, John. A & P. Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories. New York: Knopf, 1962. Rpt. in Fiction 100. Ed. James H. Pickering. 4th ed. New York: Macmillan, 1982. 1086-9. Print.