Blog #7 -- Feminist Criticism of "A & P"

In John Updike's short story "A & P," women characters play various major and minor roles. In fact, most of the characters in this story (save for the workers and the manager) are women, and these women all are coming into Sammy's interior monologue for the same two reasons that women come into a lot of people's minds: behavior and appearance.

In this short story, there is a mixture of dominant and submissive female characters that establish themselves in Sammy's mind. For instance, at the beginning when the girls first arrive in the A & P, Sammy first describes the girl in the green plaid bathing suit while he's ringing up an older woman's items. When he rings up an item twice, the woman vocally calls him out for it. In his thoughts, he's categorizing her as a fifty-year-old witch with no eyebrows and rouge who has probably taken great delight in catching him in a mistake at the cash register. He continues to take the witch analogy further by mentioning that if she were born in the right time period in Salem, then she would have been burned. Another character who exhibits dominance in her behavior is "Queenie," the leader of the three girls who find their way into the small grocery store. His thoughts seem to center mostly on her and leave her two friends as more of an afterthought because she gives off an air of power and prestige, which intimidates her friends into being submissive background objects that don't cross his mind quite as much, quite like rocks, perhaps. Dominance is an important way to establish oneself in society, and both the older woman and Queenie, as dominant women, seem to have established themselves in his somewhat long-term memory.

If we examine the behavior of the older woman and of Queenie and compare them, it's pretty clear that if Queenie had treated Sammy the way the older woman did, there would have been less of a complaint and probably no witch analogies. This has to do with Sammy's stage in life compared to the two womens'. The older woman is just that -- older. Had she been younger, like Queenie, the reaction might have been quite different. An important thing to Sammy in this story seems to be for Queenie to notice him, especially as she's walking down the aisles and in his actions at the end when he quits his job, hoping to catch her attention. In fact, as Sammy mentions the "houseslaves" that are in pin curlers and the mothers that have varicose veins and six kids, it occurs to me that he probably wouldn't have quit over the manager treating them like he did the three girls in their bathing suits. I'd even take it so far to say that he wouldn't have quit over the other two girls either. It was how Queenie looked that got his attention and led him to quit his job.

While Sammy's thoughts are probably just that of a teenage boy with little life experience, the fact remains that in this story, women are categorized by their behavior and appearance. Women, in his mind, are less like people and more like objects. He doesn't know the stories behind the "houseslaves" who truly are "house slaves" in more ways than one. He doesn't take the time to understand the caustic older woman, or even of the three girls that he's watching almost hungrily. The truth of these women are unimportant to him, and in the end he quits his job over someone he doesn't know or understand and it was poetic justice in its own way that when he exited the A & P that the girls were gone. And even then it was evident that he was moving on to something else and every last woman in that store was gone from his mind forever.

Blog # 6 -- "The Yellow Wallpaper" Facebook Page

John's Wife has joined Facebook.
June 10, 1892 12:34 p.m.

"I hope John doesn't see this Facebook... I better keep it private! And I hope he won't find it either... I specifically put my screen name as 'John's Wife' because there are many Johns in the world, and I bet many of them have wives. For all my John knows, I could be a different wife of a different John!"
June 10, 1892 12:56 p.m.

John's wife is married.
June 10, 1892 12:59 p.m.

"I sometimes think that this house is haunted. It's so beautiful here! It would interest me, but I can't move around much. It would be bad for my health. Sad day..."
June 14, 1892 3:45 p.m.

"This room would be nice... if it didn't have this yellow wallpaper. So much for a nursery or a place for me to get well again. At least the windows have nice views. Maybe I'll post pics later?"
June 16, 1892 1:04 p.m.

"Isn't this view gorgeous??"
June 16, 1892 1:45 p.m.

John's Wife is friends with Woman in the Wallpaper.

June 24, 1892 12:00 a.m.

"So I found this article and I'm beginning to wonder if I'm not as sick as John says I am... He is a physician but still... Men. Haha! I guess he knows best though..." http://www.helpguide.org/mental/depression_women.htm
June 30, 1892 2:24 p.m.

"Happy Fourth of July!! I'm tired already, lol."
July 4, 1892 10:14 a.m.

"Why don't you post anything?? Lol." with Woman in the Wallpaper.
July 15, 1892 11:45 a.m.

"There's something about this wallpaper..." feeling confused.
July 30, 1892 7:13 a.m.

"This is what I do! Instead it films you, Woman in the Wallpaper! Joke's on you I guess." with Woman in the Wallpaper.
August 3, 1892 4:18 p.m.

"Going home tomorrow! Oh, and NO MORE WALLPAPER, WHEE!! I ripped it!"
August 20, 1892 5:35 p.m.

Blog #5 -- "Orientation"

Oh you! I've heard of you. You're new here, huh? Well, I can show you around a bit. This is the stage, where we put on a variety of shows, obviously. We're actually doing Sweeney Todd coming up, but I won't be in it sadly... however yours truly WILL be doing the makeup!

See that guy with the clipboard over there? That's the stage manager. He's stern, but he isn't mean unless you cross him. He tries to not put up with much, but you know how it is. His name is Edward Lox. In fact a few months ago when we were doing Our Town, he tried to audition for the part of the Stage Manager. Truthfully though, while he's an amazing stage manager, he is a TERRIBLE actor. He lost out to Trinity Becks, and shes's over there rehearsing her lines. She doesn't have a ton of them this time around, much to her delight. She's playing the crazy old homeless woman.

Trinity has her own set of problems though. She drops acid and smokes hookah. I guess she likes the romance of it, I mean it totally screams Alice in Wonderland, am I right? But whatever you do, DO NOT disturb her if she's tripping in her dressing room. She almost throttled a guy last year. She's an amazing actress though, so we put up with it.

Over there? That's Ivan. I can't pronounce his last name. Yes that's right ee-vahn. Not eye-ven. He gets pecky if you don't say it right. He's playing the demon barber himself, and he's got his own set of demons. Alcoholism. But we put up with him -- he does have an amazing voice.

Oh, me? I suppose we all have our vices.

Mind the curtains, don't forget to treat them with respect. Edward yelled at me once when I drew them too harshly. Be quiet back stage, trust me the audience can hear EVERYTHING. Don't even breathe.

This is the costume room. Talk to Roxy, she'll help you out. She is BRILLIANT at costuming. Ivan is interested in her, but she isn't interested in anyone really. I'm sure there are many reasons why but we don't ask and I suggest you don't either. Don't take any of the costumes home either, some of these are pretty old. Actually REALLY old. We'll put up with it if they're ripped during dress rehearsals or performances, but not if it occurs at home.

There are a variety of skilled actors in this troupe. Learn from us, and you'll do just fine. What's that? Who's that man standing in the balcony? Why that's our director, James Frost! No? There's someone standing behind him? I don't see anyone. You do? Well don't. If that's who I think it is, it's best if you ignore him. That particular ghost follows people home if he catches you noticing. He watches us, but we don't dare watch him. We put up with him, but we really do need to call someone to get him out. He bothers the audience.

Blog #4 -- "A Good Man is Hard to Find"

Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is an excellent example of Southern Grotesque/Gothic for a few reasons. For example, one of the criteria for Southern Grotesque is that a story may point out negative aspects of society. The grandmother, for example, is old-fashioned about race, though she probably doesn't mean any harm in her comments. She points out a little, impoverished black boy that has no pants on and calls him a "pickaninny." She then follows up with a story that portrays African Americans as poor and unintelligent. These sort of things were common well into the 1950s and 1960s, and even today there are some people who exhibit this sort of racial bigotry, malicious or not.

Another reasons "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is a good example of this subgenre has to do with the setting and the characters. The setting can be largely described as rural Georgia, as any indication of an urban setting is usually described as being on the outskirts of a particular town or city. The main part of the story even takes place on a dirt road way back into the woods, away from any sort of civilization. As for the characters, the family aren't necessarily "grotesques" themselves, but I think it's safe to say that The Misfit fits the "secular grotesque" type. He has renounced his faith in God, feeling as if he's been lied to and wishing that he would have been there to see Jesus raise the dead so he would know the truth. He had been falsely imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, and while incarcerated, he seemed to experience an "enlightening" or some sorts. He makes allusions to crime and punishment (sins and Hell), and mentions that it doesn't matter what the crime (sin) is, it will still be punished (going to jail/Hell). While he may not be destroying his soul in order to save the mortal body, it's clear that he knows that no matter what he does, whether he remembers it or not, he will be punished for it in both this life and the next. I think he's killing people now so that he will remember exactly why he is being punished in the end.

Lastly, in Southern Grotesque, the plot line often includes irony and disturbing events. In the end, the story becomes both disturbing and ironic as the entire family is murdered on the side of the road (which was mentioned in passing earlier that if the grandmother was seen dead on the side of the highway, anyone would know immediately that she was a lady) ultimately by their brother, son, and uncle, The Misfit.

Blog #3 -- "The Lottery" theme

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" concerns itself with the concept of that it can be acceptable to require the individual to sacrifice for the greater good. The entire ordeal itself is a sacrifice that is made in order to ensure a good crop. There's even a rhyme that goes along with it: "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon." Everyone in this society has accepted the fact that one of them will die because of the lottery and that their death means that those who remain alive will have a plentiful crop and won't fall upon hard times. This doesn't always happen in modern times quite like it happens in "The Lottery," but there are some people who sacrifice a lot for the greater good. For instance, quite recently a lot of Nez Perce Tribal members (along with other supporters) protested the passing of the megaloads that were on the way up to Canada's Tar Sands. A lot of people were arrested and while many of them were able to make bail, I know that there was a few that had to sit time for a little bit. These protesters knew the risks when they stood in front of that truck in order to defend what they believed was right, and many of them did pay a price. The megaloads DID go through, but the protesters did what they could in order to sacrifice their freedom for the greater good, in a sense.