Compare and Contrast Updike's A&p

Compare and Contrast- "Journey towards Identity"

In today's society, people are continually searching for their identity. They may have grown up in a different background than most, or maybe they have had some struggles or obstacles along the way. This has been the case for many generations that have preceded the people of today, as well.

In Steinbeck's story "Chrysanthemums" and Updike's story "A&P," both characters have a similar theme where the main character is comparing themselves to someone of more class or stature, and they start to wonder what that kind of lifestyle might be like. Although both stories focus on the different styles each character portrays, they are in very different eras, one being a modern day neighborhood grocery store compared to a woman doing hard labor outdoors.

In "Chrysanthemums," Elisa is working very hard at something she enjoys, but never gets the attention or admiration she deserves, until a stranger crosses her path and admires what she is capable of. This traveling repairman shows Elisa attention she is not used to getting. She then starts to ponder her life and wonder what it would be like to have, what she considers, the good life. When speaking of Elisa, the narrator said, "Her shoulders were straight, her head thrown back, her eyes half-closed, so that the scene came vaguely into them" (Steinbeck 321).

In "A & P," the grocery store clerk sees three young girls enter the store and starts to analyze their lifestyle in his mind, and what each girl's character is like. He can tell that one of the girls is the leader of the group. When he hears her tell his boss that she is their to buy some herring for her mom, he starts evaluating his own life, compared to the life this girl's family must lead. The young clerk in "A&P" explains, "When my parents have somebody over they get lemonade and if it's a real racy affair Schlitz in tall glasses." (Updike 492). He lives a very simple, modest lifestyle compared to the girl in the swim suit looking to buy some herring for her family's party.

In both stories, the main characters are hard workers living a modest life. They are from two different eras, but have the similar feeling of wondering how their life would be if they were in someone else's shoes living their high profile life. They think that by living these types of lives, it automatically means the person must live an easygoing, happy life. This isn't always the case. In today's society, everyone is always trying to keep up with everyone else and seems to have that "grass is always greener on the other side" outlook. Once they have a chance to live that other lifestyle, they will get a better insight and, sometimes, realize that the simpler, less glamorous life they had was better than what