John Updyke - A&P

First initial post here is 3 reactions to the short story A&P by John Updyke. Click John's name to read it first.
Each reaction is written after it's corresponding read. After reading it once, twice and then three times.

#1 – What first stood out to me about A&P was the main character’s testosterone take on the three girls. He immediately picks out their physical flaws and lets the audience know exactly what part of his body he is thinking with. So my initial thought about the story is that Sammy is just your typical guy. Even with his chivalry at the end he still doesn’t impress me that much.

#2 - One specific paragraph that really sings of Updyke’s talent is the following;

“I thought and said "No" but it wasn't about that I was thinking. I go through the punches, 4, 9, GROC, TOT -- it's more complicated than you think, and after you do it often enough, it begins to make a lttle song, that you hear words to, in my case "Hello (bing) there, you (gung) hap-py pee-pul (splat)"-the splat being the drawer flying out. I uncrease the bill, tenderly as you may imagine, it just having come from between the two smoothest scoops of vanilla I had ever known were there, and pass a half and a penny into her narrow pink palm, and nestle the herrings in a bag and twist its neck and hand it over, all the time thinking.”

He shows the sort of dance and rhythm that you get when you work a register or a counter for awhile. Not only is he able to write it, he is able to show that same rhythm through the text. The whole paragraph has that flow as well. One other story telling weave that I really enjoy is the irony of the ending. The girls walk in and put on a show for Sammy, but when our chivalrous main character tries to put on his show for them they have already moved on.

#3 -Between the dialogue and narration there is an imbalance. Most of Updyke’s story is narration. I would put it about 80/20 if we are talking percentage. Updyke is right to do it that way as the narration is much more important to the story than the dialogue. Even without Sammy saying he quits you would know he is quitting as he takes his apron and tie off and puts in on the counter and walks out. The movement into dialogue is almost forced. Almost like Sammy is more comfortable in his head than he is in his words.