Bloody Orange Dress Vs A & P
Compare and Contrast
In John Updike 's A& P and “the bloody orange dress” we are taken on a path of two characters that are coming of age and must face the harsh realities of adulthood due to their extreme naivety. Sammy in A and p is a nineteen year old male who works as a grocery store cashier clerk. Jessica in the bloody orange dress is a 21 year old female who lacks self confidence all the while trying to get a grasp of womanhood.
Both seem to come from middle class neighborhood yet the each stories plot takes place in vastly different settings. Sammy is a young guy probably fresh out of high school, which’s spending his summer working at the A&P, a job that his parents probably arranged. Jessica is a 21 year old girl who is spending …show more content…
Jessica is still childlike and seemingly uncomfortable in her own skin. She lacks self confidence and is constantly yearning to be someone other than herself. For example Jessica says “Nancy has always been the head of the pack. Since we were young I longed to be her or just like her. She’s a head taller than Rachel and I and exudes an aura of confidence” (Keshishian 1). Jessica lacks self confidence in herself which explains why she might still childlike. Sammy is beginning to enter manhood in which he begins to notice the opposite sex yet he does not know how to quite handle it. He notices three girls walking into the store and is immediately infatuated. Instead of making conversation with the girls or just mind his own business, he chooses coyly ogle them with his eyes throughout the store and make little nicknames for each one such as “queenie” according to how he perceives each one. He notices little details in the girls that ultimately are sexually appealing. Such as “With the straps pushed off, there was nothing between the top of the suit and the top of her head except just her, this clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones like a dented sheet of metal tilted in the light. I mean, it was more than pretty” (Updike 301). He too is still child like in a sense, although his body and hormones are screaming
In John Updike 's A& P and “the bloody orange dress” we are taken on a path of two characters that are coming of age and must face the harsh realities of adulthood due to their extreme naivety. Sammy in A and p is a nineteen year old male who works as a grocery store cashier clerk. Jessica in the bloody orange dress is a 21 year old female who lacks self confidence all the while trying to get a grasp of womanhood.
Both seem to come from middle class neighborhood yet the each stories plot takes place in vastly different settings. Sammy is a young guy probably fresh out of high school, which’s spending his summer working at the A&P, a job that his parents probably arranged. Jessica is a 21 year old girl who is spending …show more content…
Jessica is still childlike and seemingly uncomfortable in her own skin. She lacks self confidence and is constantly yearning to be someone other than herself. For example Jessica says “Nancy has always been the head of the pack. Since we were young I longed to be her or just like her. She’s a head taller than Rachel and I and exudes an aura of confidence” (Keshishian 1). Jessica lacks self confidence in herself which explains why she might still childlike. Sammy is beginning to enter manhood in which he begins to notice the opposite sex yet he does not know how to quite handle it. He notices three girls walking into the store and is immediately infatuated. Instead of making conversation with the girls or just mind his own business, he chooses coyly ogle them with his eyes throughout the store and make little nicknames for each one such as “queenie” according to how he perceives each one. He notices little details in the girls that ultimately are sexually appealing. Such as “With the straps pushed off, there was nothing between the top of the suit and the top of her head except just her, this clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones like a dented sheet of metal tilted in the light. I mean, it was more than pretty” (Updike 301). He too is still child like in a sense, although his body and hormones are screaming