Quote
"In walks three girls in nothing but bathing suits. I'm in the third check-out slot, with my back to the door, so I don't see them until they're over by the bread. The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece. She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at top of the backs of her legs. I stood there with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not. I ring it up again and the customer starts giving me hell. She's one of those cash-register-watchers, a witch about fifty with rouge in her cheekbones and no eyebrows, and I know it made her day to trip me up. She'd been watching cash registers for fifty years and probably never seen a mistake before." (A &P by John Updike Pg. 15)
Response
To be honest it took me reading this quote a couple of times to realize he was talking about her "butt". I know a little slow but beating around the bust about it gets confusing. Ha Ha. I really thought that they way he explained how she looked was in great detail or at least great detail of the one body part. The detail he put about the older lady at his register was detailed also. I guess what hit me the most was that I could actually see this quote in action. We have all been in a checkout line and caught someone checking someone else out. And I know everyone at some point has seen the older lady as he described her. I actually felt like was there watching it all go down as it did. Even without major description little adjectives added here and there make it very easy to put yourself in the story. He took great effort in explaining her being tan, chunky, and what she was wearing.
The main word that stuck out to me was "can" because I don't think I have ever heard a "rear end" called that before. It took me reading it out loud to my boyfriend before I felt retarded for asking him his opinion but of course a guy would understand that immediately.
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Nice discussion, Carmen! The word "can" does so much for the tone early in the story. It surely conveys Sammy's youth and his disregard for other people. I wonder if he learns respect by the end, or do you see his quitting as part of his rebellion? Nancy
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly what I was looking for "youth". I was so suprised at how I could totally put myself into this short blip of a story. I could picture everything from the checkout line to where the girls were looking at the bread. I am 25 years old and still in the "giggle when I say penis" phase and I didn't even understand "can" until I asked my boyfriend what that was about. He laughed so hard at me. I guess it is nice to have a blind eye once in while. Maybe this means I am growing up HAHA! I think both are correct, I think he will gain some respect but due to his obvious age he wont admit it and it will be based on rebellion too.
ReplyDeleteI had the same experience! I read it a couple of times as well before I realized what he was describing. In response to Nancy's comment, I think Sammy's quitting is part of his rebellion. Respect for people means respect for the people's rules, which Sammy's boss was simply following when he told the girls to dress more appropriately next time. Sammy quitting displays his anti-authority point of view and his lack of maturity about the situation.
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