A&P

=A&P by John Updike=

//**This page is dedicated to understanding and analyzing the short story, A&P, using psychoanalytic theory as a lens for analysis. Please feel free to ask questions, answer questions or just post interpretations of the story. Mr. Riccuiti should be the only one editing information above the dividing line. Remember to click edit first, and then save after you're done posting your contribution. All of my contributions will be in italics.**//

//Why do we wander through the store sometimes without any real reason to buy something?//

Because theres always something we remember we "need" when we mindlessly wander.

Or it could be because we are afraid that we miss something that could be on sale.

//How is it that no one else has visited this page? Could it be that everyone who is writing about A&P spoke to me on Friday in class? I doubt that. I also suggest that you all don't write about the same exact thing. I remember who I've spoken to in class. Make sure you change things around.//

Im on the conclusion.. im saying that he is driven by his oedipus complex to quit his job but i feel like i keep saying the same thing over and over again? any suggestions?

Why did you ask the specific question of wandering a store with no reason? I thought Queenie was wandering in the store finding snacks for her mother's party.

I don't understand why that would be important to this assignment. (wandering a store with no reason) //Wandering through the store could be like wandering through the unconscious, no? :) -// This makes sense thankks

//One of the reasons why you might be repeating yourself is because you aren't exploring every facet of the O. triangle. You can't just claim that the O. complex made him quit his job and leave it at that. How do you establish that there is a triangle going on in the text in the first place. Where is the evidence? You must make the connection between Sammy and Queenie by exploring the text for examples. How does he see her? Are there other characters that could be competing with Sammy? What is it about Queenie and the rest of the girls that sets her apart? Makes her "like" a mother figure? Oh, and as far as stating that the O. Complex made Sammy quit...do you really think that's enough? Why did it make him quit? What about the last line of the story? What has happened to Sammy as a result of this conflict?//

Does it make sense to write that he is driven by the oedipal complex in quitting his job as it is him finally taking a stand against higher authority figures standing in the way of his fantasy? i.e his father/mother his boss/the girls

//Yes, you could argue that, but you must also address the fact that by quitting his job he is also "leaving" the triangle. What does this mean as far as Sammy as a character and "person" is concerned?//