Compare And Contrast A & P And Adam Raised A Cain

“A&P” Compare and Contrast with “Adam Raised a Cain”

Generation gap has been a reoccurring theme in literatures of all eras and cultures. Such are the cases in John Updike’s “A&P” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Adam Raised a Cain”. In Updike’s “A&P”, conflicting values between two generations accelerate as nineteen-year-old Sammy decides to quit his job. The conflict between Sammy, Lengel, and their different attitudes towards reality reflects Updike’s subtle yet pronounced commentary on the generation gap. On the other hand, Bruce Springsteen’s “Adam Raised a Cain” operates on a similar principle in a realistic way, reflecting reality through biblical references. The adult singer reminiscences his boyhood encounters with the generation gap throughout

Generation gap plays a subtle role in “A&P”, whereas it serves as a cause for the regretful memories in the song lyrics. In John Updike’s “A&P”, the generation gap is first foreshadowed by the accusing customer in the first paragraph, as Sammy mocks “she'd been watching cash registers forty years and probably never seen a mistake before” (1). Sammy’s exaggeration is hereby indicative of how he perceives the older generation: discipline now connotes inflexibility, and rationality considered a conceit – all of its best features are replaced by shortcomings. The conflict reaches a boiling point in paragraph twenty-two, with Sammy quitting his job in protest to Lengel’s rebuke against the girls. When Sammy accuses Lengel by saying he “didn’t have to embarrass them” (23), Lengel gives a firm reply that “it was they who were embarrassing [them]” (24). This simple

The endings of both pieces illustrate the different conclusions Sammy and the son have arrived at on the generation gap. Updike’s “A&P” ends with Sammy declaring that "the world will be at hard to [him] hereafter" (32), but he does not elaborate on why that is. Considering his statement in paragraph twenty-one, that “once you begin a gesture, it's fatal not to go through with it” (31), Sammy is not fully aware of the generation gap, which he must surmount in his days to come. However, the son in Springsteen’s “Adam Raised a Cain” has resolved his generational conflict with his father, as he becomes aware that “daddy worked his whole life for nothing but the pain” (22), and he understands why his father “walks these empty rooms looking for something to blame” (23). The two young characters in the story and the song figuratively highlight the necessary pain in growing up and giving acknowledgement to the older