CATHEDRAL AND A & P

Cathedral and A & P: Compare and Contrast Essay

Cathedral and A & P: Compare and Contrast Essay

Introduction Paragraph:

There was a time when family life in western world had polar differences across different places and ages. During the post-modern era (1950s onwards), Americas and England were going through cultural, social and economic transformations. Some insights of these changes are also reflected in literary works like John Updike's A&P, and Raymond Carver's Cathedral. In this essay, I compare and contrast the characters in the literary works of John Updike's A&P, and Raymond Carver's Cathedral, reflecting the changes in the peoples' family life and people's sexual orientations. In Carver's Cathedral, there is a concern and tension that runs throughout the story, a kind of danger that threatens to bankrupt the characters. A blind man visits his girlfriend's house and tries to draw the old cathedral with her husband. In A&P, Updike reflects on the sexual revolution that has continued in the 60's - rock, drugs, peace protests and other violations which were considered the standards accepted in American life. Indeed, the point of Updike could have been that there were wars of continuing value in America between an older generation that, in the 60s, showed the bumper stickers that read, "America : Love it or leave it!"

Body Paragraph #1:

A&P is narrated by its character 'Sammy'. He is presented as sarcastic, opinionated and disaffected teenager who has a deep sexual interest in the coworkers and shopper at A&P. Being a keen observer of girls, he goes beyond detailing the physical appearance of the girls' bathing suits though sensual appeals from the speech of girls.'it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale so I guessed she just got it (the suit)'. His lustful ogling of girls like Queenie and Stokesie make him draw insights of other peoples' private and social lives. As his sexual hunger is heightened, he resigns from A&P and goes exploring a more satisfactory experience in the sexual strata of the society. Another key character in A&P is Queenie, a regular visitor at A&P. She is a mixture of innocence and precocity. She wants to explore the boundaries of acceptable behavior to a point where she feels embarrassed. She does not mind other shoppers staring her, and feels pride in her sexual ...