by Mike Sakinejad
Novelist
and short story writer John Updike (1932-2009) was considered to be one of
America’s foremost writers and literary critics. From his upbringing in rural
Pennsylvania, Updike was subject to social circumstances that were associated
with living in middle class America.
Updike, along with his mother and father, lived with his maternal
grandparents because of his family’s meager income (1312). His rearing as a child
of a middle class family is exhibited in the subjects he oft chose to write
about. Updike chose to chronicle the American small town, and the middle class
denizens that inhabited it. In “A&P,” Updike sets his short story in the
local supermarket, a “common denominator of middle-class suburbia, an
appropriate symbol for the mass ethic of a consumer-conditioned society”
(Porter 1155). Sammy, the
protagonist of “A&P,” represents the dissatisfaction with the blind
conformity of the middle class that he painfully witnessed as a cashier at the
local market.
During
the time this narrative is set, the rise of mass consumerism that adversely
plagued and graced American society had been growing strong from the end of
World War II. The conclusion of
World War II halted the mass production of tools of war, but brought about the
mass production of consumer goods. The increased production capacity of
consumer items, along with the influx of returning veterans, led to the
improvement of the typical American lifestyle. The establishment of what we
know today as the modern middle class, was a fruition of improved economic
conditions; but the relative improvement also had significant adverse social
consequences. The exponential growth of the middle class would lead to the
rapid expansion of comfortable lifestyles in dreary, bland suburbs. No longer
was the dynamic urban lifestyle, or the hardworking rural life representative
of the average American. Americans who moved into the suburbs, moved into a
consumer lifestyle that featured monotonous conformity, which Updike attempts
to capture through the narrative. Consumerism, a term first used in 1960, is
the “emphasis on or preoccupation with the acquisition of consumer goods” (Oxford
Dictionary). Updike is critical of the behavior of a society that is so enthralled
with their daily shopping that they appear to lose a piece of their natural
humanity. The narrative’s main character, Sammy, routinely belittles patrons as
he watches them go about their business, referring to them as “sheep”; as well
as offering his brutally harsh, but essentially correct judgments upon what he
views as disgusting products of his small middle class town. M. Gilbert Porter
argues that Sammy is repulsed “by their insensitivity [and] their loss of individualism.”
Updike’s
description of the market’s “green-and-cream rubber floor” is thick with
artificiality, further illustrating the author’s distain of a wide spectrum of
middle class suburbia. Sammy witnessed, day after day, the mindless behavior that
plagued the average middle class shopper. Sammy remarks “I bet you could set
off dynamite in an A & P and the people would by and large keep reaching
and checking oatmeal off their lists” (Updike 1314).
In
conjunction with Sammy’s dialogue and Updike’s descriptions of the A&P,
Updike uses “brand-name symbolism” (McFarland 97) to further illustrate
ideologies of class and social structure. At the beginning of the story, Sammy
is associated with the bland HiHo brand crackers. Adversely, Queenie is associated
with “Kingfish Herring Snacks,” that mirrors both the regality in the name
given to her by Sammy, but also the social tier she is identified with. The
duality that is implied with the pairing of, what Sammy sees as, boring
crackers with expensive herring snacks, further illustrates how Updike intends
to use social class overtones, which dominate the entire narrative.
Works
Cited
Updike, John.
"A&P." The
Short Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. 8th ed. Boston:
Bedford/St.Martins, 2011. 1312-1317. Print.
Porter, Gilbert M.
“John Updike's "A&P": The Establishment and an Emersonian
Cashier.” The English
Journal 61.8 (1972):
1155-1158. JSTOR. Web. 19 Apr. 2012.
Mcfarland, Ronald E.
"Updike And The Critics: Reflections On 'A&P'." Studies In Short Fiction 20.2/3
(1983): 95. Humanities
International Complete. Web.
19 Apr. 2012.
Very interesting. So are you saying that Updike was extremely critical of this kind of new life style America was taking the form of? very interesting to look at how consumerism was when it first started and how it is now in our present day life.
ReplyDeleteI never realized the role the middle class had in Updike’s stories. I figured him character was unhappy due to his small hometown and feeling entrapped within its boundaries. Now that you have mentioned how he criticizes the middle class patrons in the super market, it all makes sense. Not only does he call them “sheep” but he sort of looks down upon them and acts as if he is of a higher standing than them, emphasizing the power struggle. As you mentioned, this type of writing may be personal for the author of the story. Updike himself was criticized for being a member of the middle class from where he lived in Pennsylvania. It all makes sense now as to why the boy acts the way he does towards the customers in the super market.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a very interesting well done post and as Chelsea said, it clears things up for me on why the boy acted the way he did in certain parts of the story. Updike really portrayed the middle class through A&P, example being monotonous conformity you mentioned and how he expressed that through the narrator.
ReplyDeleteI never realized that the time period this was written in had such an effect on the plot and main focus of the story. The consumer boom probably turned people into "consumer robots" hence the mindless sheep description in the story. I never understood why the people in the supermarket seemed so mindless but now I do! The consumer boom can maybe be paralleled to the internet and technology boom we have today. In a way we are like the mindless sheep on the internet, surfing the web constantly.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it is very interesting to look at how consumerism started out and transformed our middle class society. Likewise it is strange to see how entangled our lives have become with consumerism in fifty years. I think Updike being raised with the middle class and his "family’s meager income" allowed him to convey this message effectively throughout his stories.
ReplyDeleteI looked at this story with a broader overview and never thought of specifically applying the adverse effects of consumerism to this story. But it makes sense from the standpoint that Sammy is probably considered "middle class", but his supermarket job is probably the best thing that he can do for himself. This is a good time for him, when consumerism is at its peak and goods and services are more readily available and more luxury items are now common staples. So, I can see how this story is very critical of the consumerism culture. How it makes mindless "sheep" purchasing goods, but also how it improves the standard of living. Sammy longed to break free from this conformity but as soon as he did there was an instant regret. There is not much hope once you take yourself away from this conformity, because it is what raises the society up but takes away from the individual.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up some very good points about Updike and his view on society. What I find really interesting is the association of people to name brand foods. Society at this point has become so dependent on consumerism, that people have actually come to be represented by what they buy. I even find it a little funny that people can still disguinish what their own social class should buy at the local market, despite the fact that it caters to all walks of life.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up very interesting points. It is cool to see how consumerism arose and changed society as a whole. I also think that the foods some of the characters were related to that had to do with their social standing was a very interesting idea. I think because Updike was apart of a middle class society he was able to represent them in a fair way.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this post on Updike, I can now see how the middle class or the class system in general plays a role in his story "A&P." There are remarks throughout the story that relate to the idea that one class is higher or more dominant than the others. For example, he uses the term "sheep" instead of referring to them as customers. I think that being raised in the middle class really led to Updike having some strong opinions and he represents them through this story.
ReplyDelete