Essay Sample on John Updike's Literary Skills

Introduction

John Updike is a renowned American novelist, poet and short-story writer he employs a lot of literary devices which include plot, the point of view and analogies in highlighting his themes. It is necessary to know the meaning of the techniques he employs and to begin with; plots are the events making up the story and helping the building of character and settings. Point of views, on the other hand, is used as a mode of narration employed by the authors to enable the reader see and hear what place in the story through the reflection of individual opinions; it uses first, second or third person. Analogies are comparison tools like the similes and metaphors which compare an idea to another on different from it.

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The Role of Plot, Point of View, and Analogies in Highlighting Themes in John Updike's "A&P"

Updike used plots to highlight his themes for example in his story "A&P" the story revolved around the three barefoot girls who walked into an A&P grocery in bathing suits hence inspiring the desires of men in the store but the manager instructs them to dress in accordance to the store's policies which results to one of the Cashier, Sammy, quitting job so as to impress the girls with claims that the manager, Mr. Lenel embarrassed them (Thompson 215). The story ends with the girls gone and Sammy left alone in regret of how the world will be after that. Updike uses the plot to bring out the theme of consequences where characters make decisions that lead to adverse effects like the girls walking in the A&P in their bathing suits and Sammy deciding to quit Job in attempts to defend them. The plot in this instance is also used to bring out the theme of power where Mr. Lenel exercises his control as the manager by firing Sammy and the girls' potential to stimulate desire of men in the grocery.

Still, on the "A&P" story, John uses the first-person point of view in narrating the story which helps highlight the theme of the story. Sammy gives the leaders his opinions on how the girls are treated which emphasis that Sammy is used to defining other characters and therefore setting the theme of making the right choices. Sammy is fascinated with the girls and through use of point of view Updike achieves his goal where Sammy took off his apron and shrugged it off his shoulder symbolizing the effects of quitting the job (Thompson 216). Updike also uses the first person point of view to bring out dynamism as a theme; Queenie the girls' team leader is a confident a calm person, but upon confrontation by the manager she changes to the point of blushing as she gets out of the store.

Lastly, analogies have not been left out by Updike in helping highlight the themes in his literature which includes the A&P. Sammy compares the thigh of the girls with the crescent of white, and when a fifty-year-old customer he was serving before seeing the girls alerts him to go back to work, he gets irritated and begins to compare the girls to her. Sammy goes ahead to describe the girls describing the second girl as one having chubby berry face and the third is described as having prima-donna legs. Sammy's contemptuous view of customers is brought out by the analogy of comparing them to sheep as well as the statement when disputing with the manager where he says, "a couple of customers that had been heading for my slot begin to knock against each other, like scared pigs in a chute" (Thompson 215). Sammy again uses an analogy to compare Queenie's breasts with scoops of vanilla and displays her attraction to them which highlight the theme of the power of a lady over men by easily arousing their desires.

Work Cited

Thompson, Corey. "Updike's A&P." The Explicator, issue no. 4, March 2001: pp. 215-216.