Comparing The Literary Works Of John Updike And A & P

Darian Ogilvie

Writing and Literature

Melessa Henderson

April 15, 2015

Innocence: Sense of wonder, Power of Destruction

When two stories completely differ, it is important to dive a little deeper. John Updike was an author from Pennsylvania who attended Harvard. His many publish were criticism, essays, novels, and short stories that had ran over a course of forty years. He is best known for his portraying of Suburban life, and for characters that experience the anxieties, tensions, and frustrations of middle –class existence. Kate Chopin, from St. Louis often had a different writing style. She lived in Louisiana with her husband where they raised six children. She devoted herself to writing shortly after her husband died in 1833. Her

Her stories were often highly condemned for its highly charged eroticism and its guiltless adultery. Comparing such authors is based upon setting, plot, characters, and the different writing styles each author abide by.

First, John Updike in early childhood was described as a serious student, but one that enjoyed humor and writing. He later had a family who settled in Massachusetts, where he began and pursued his own publishes. A famous work of John Updike is his short story A&P. A&P tells a story about a small town grocery clerk in New England. The clerks name is Sammy, who lives a quite ordinary life for living in a small town. One day catches him off guard when three girls in bathing suits happen to come into the store. Sammy, being a boy, picks out whom he finds most attractive, her name is Queenie. Queenie leads the other two girls as they walk around the store and start to create

This story is narrated about a sickly wife who believes that her husband is dead an imagines a life of freedom for herself. Mrs. Mallard, the wife, has a serious heart condition so everyone is careful around her. Her sister and family are the first to find out about her husbands death. They are slow to tell Mrs. Mallard that her husband had died in a car accident. After Mrs. Mallard is informed she goes up to her room, locks the door and cries. This is when Mrs. Mallard realizes they are tears of joy; this is her chance of freedom. It is important to note that she did love her husband very much, and she was very saddened by his death, but this was the first time she actually felt free. Instead of dreading the days of the future, she is now looking forward to them. When Mrs. Mallard finally comes out of her room, and notices that her sister had been waiting outside her door the whole time to make sure she was okay. Mrs. Mallard and her sister start walking downstairs, to the surprise of Mr. Mallard. The shock of seeing him was so intense that it kills Mrs.