Essay On Business Culture In John Updike's Up Against Walmart

Despite John Updike’s short story “A&P” being fiction and Karen Olsson’s article “Up Against Walmart” being non-fiction both pieces of literature represent similar messages on the effect business culture and its effect on the employees who work for these substantial companies. Both pieces provide a view into the life of employees working in this field and what the repercussions are of working such a job. The main idea addressed in both is the poor quality of life for individuals who work in this field. This poor quality of life is made evident by the mistreatment of its employees, the stereotypical employee for a job in this field and the conformity which is pushed onto its employees. It is implied in different aspects and in numerous ways throughout both pieces of literature that the treatment of employees is less satisfactory regarding this line of work. First, Olsson’s article and how this represents the mistreatment of its employees. This article discusses how Walmart employees are

In the article “Up Against Walmart” by Olsson, the opening sentence describes one of the employees stating “Jennifer McLaughlin is 22, has a baby, drives a truck, wears wide-leg jeans and spiky plastic chokers, dyes her hair dark red, and works at Wal-Mart.” This is what most would describe as stereotypical, implying that this in general can be applied for all employees of jobs which require less of an education or training as compared to a more respectable field, however, many people who are working these low paying jobs with minimal education may do it out of necessity, not because of a lack of work ethic, which is often overlooked in favour of the stereotypes which can be attributed to these employees. As Olsson’s article mentions many of these employees being parents or others in financial situations which force individuals work these less than desirable