A&P

Females in the sixties were much less involved in society than the males. Although I believe they had a huge underlying influence. In the sixties (1961) which is when this story takes place women for the most part were caretakers of the home and the children. John Updike’s male view portrayed by Sammy a nineteen year old cashier in a local grocery store, was very typical for that time. Although I think the same scenario would take place today. Three scantly clad girls come into the grocery store and two young male cashiers ogle them. The difference from then and now is the fact that it wasn’t as acceptable in the sixties for young women to wear bathing suits anywhere else other than the local swimming pools or to the beach and certainly not in a family grocery store. But the part about the young men ogling them and imaging what they are like could easily have happened today. The manager of the store Lengel was a typical male for that time, he stood for tradition, decency, and store policy. Although he may have had a few thoughts of his own, that he had some conflict about. He takes a stand on the situation by confronting the girls on how they are dressed and demands that in the future, they come in here with their shoulders covered.

Two points in this short story in which the wielding of power switches traditional roles. When the girls mainly Queenie stands up to an older male authority figure, Lengel, which I’m sure was almost unheard of for that time, and when a young teenager Sammy stands up to his boss who just happens to be a friend of the family. Even though Queenie stood up to Lengel saying “We are decent” after his statement “We want you decently dressed when you come in here” she regretted her remark and realized she had crossed the line and then again remembered her place. Sammy also questions his choice of taking a stand against his boss. Quitting his job suddenly because of his boss’s rudeness to the girls may have been a bit hasty and this caused him to contemplate his future.

Updike portrayed typical male and female roles for that time period, with a few exceptions. I think that was his way of making a more interesting story by standing up to society’s norms of the sixties.

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Orientation

Ok so here’s the run down on working at the world famous Classic Espresso! Welcome. Listen closely because I really don’t want to repeat myself. You like espresso? Helps if you do, so you can tell the customers what’s good and what’s not. The morning rush is the worst part of the day. Grouchy customers, most of them late for work, and no ones tolerable before their first cup of the day. Once you get to know the regulars and their orders it becomes a lot easier. I can look down the line of cars and tell you, ok next in line is a double mocha, with extra whip, not too hot. After that is an Americano three shots, then we have a hazelnut latté made with soy milk. It’s crazy when you run into these customers else where you can’t remember their name but you sure can remember their drinks. We sure have an interesting group coming in here. There’s this one guy that has to have his one shot espresso in this little cup right here call a demitasse. He brought it in himself. He thinks he some sophisticated coffee drinker because he drinks from one of these and his wife is from France. He stands here sips and discusses politics and the world and then leaves you a twenty-five cent tip. Doesn’t he realize he’s this dinky little farming town of a three thousand people and most are a bunch of red necks? There’s this lawyer guy that comes through the drive thru and gets the smallest cup we have, eight ounces and never leaves a tip. I think he and Tyson must be best friends. We have another guy who gets the 24 ouncer with 12 shots in it. He comes at night so I think he must work nights somewhere, probably security. He’s an awesome tipper! The best tipping time is around the holidays, especially around Christmas. When you open hopefully everything is fully stocked, by the closing person the night before. That’s usually Holly and she pretty good about that, unless her boyfriend’s been in. Then you’ll end up spending your morning refilling the cups, the lids, stir sticks and so forth. As you can see those things are stored back in the storage room by the ice maker. Making an espresso is pretty simple, first you grind the beans. Never change the grind. Then you pack the grounds in the thing, can’t remember the name, put it up in the machine and while you are waiting for the drip, steam your milk. Put your flavor in the cup never more than a shot of syrup, unless the customer pays extra, this measurement right here, Tyson gets really peeved about that! Tight wad… oops did I just say that out loud? Well I guess it’s the way to make money, pinching every penny. He is the owner after all. We have a list right here on the specialty drinks and everything else I just went over, in case you forget anything, and remember to smile! Pretend like you love your job, you get more tips that way!

Southern Grotesque

Southern Grotesque writing style is described as using supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to guide the plot. In the story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor, I believe use irony as a main component in her story along with stock characters that can be racist and self righteous, but you have some compassion for them. Such as the grandma who is definitely a racist with her comments about the small boy in the doorway of a shack. June Starr notices he had no pants and the grandma said, “Little niggers in the country don’t have things like we do.” She is also a very manipulative woman, using what she knows about her family, their likes and dislikes to get what she wants. She suggested that they stop by her old childhood so she could reminisce. She makes up a story about a secret panel, knowing that it would entice the children into bugging their father until he finally gave in and goes to the old plantation. She didn’t always win. In the beginning of the story she tried to manipulate the family into going to Tennessee instead of Florida by saying there was the possibility of running into the Misfit who was supposedly heading that to Florida. This moment was ironic. In the Southern Grotesque style of literature, these characters that have the negative qualities but they can also bring out empathy from the reader. You feel some empathy for the grandmother because of how the family treated her. It’s like they just tolerated her, didn’t really seem to enjoy her company. Her son Bailey never seemed to talk to her unless she spoke to him. Bailey’s wife never said anything and the grandchildren were disrespectful. When the grandmother complained about going to Florida, John Wesley said, “If you don’t want to go to Florida, why dontcha just stay home?” Another one of the ironic moments in the story was when the grandmother showed such concerned about her appearance. They would know she was a lady if she was found on the road side dead by the way she was dressed. The Misfit character was a grotesque character, in a more twisted way. How calm and mater of fact he was when he ordered the two men to kill the family was a bit unnerving. In the end the grandmother change her strategy in saving her life. In the beginning she was encouraging everyone to pray and in her last moments she bribed the misfit with money. This is could be an example of a type of secular grotesques. Throwing away God and resorting to anything to say your life.

The Lottery

In Shirley Jackson's, "The Lottery," one theme is Man's ability (and need) to rationalize generally unacceptable actions.

The closest I can come to relating to something in society today, in my view would be the rationalization of people going to war. In the United States people glorify war, romanticize it, and call it your duty. In the sixties when my brother and cousins were of age, there was the draft, which to me would be exactly the same as a lottery in this story. My cousin gave his life for the greater good. So they say for our freedom and for the safety of our citizens and our way of life, which I think neither one of there were protected because of that military action (war). Today it is still considered justifiable to loose your life for the greater good. The men in the story talk about how its tradition and you shouldn’t mess with tradition that the people in the other villages have talked about giving up the lottery and that they were, “just crazy fools”. I think that’s how society views the people who protest involvement in war.