Updike and Poems in Deepth

In the short story "A&P" by John Updike, "Rites of Passage," and "The Girl at the Boys' Party" both by Sharon Olds, bestows an underlying message. Universality may be found among these three pieces of literature. All three works of art depict the process of growing up into the real world and how who we are can be shaped through decisions or events in life. Within the lines of "A&P," the author describes customers as sheep-like, and Sammy, the main character, as unsheep-like. This sense of acting out of the norm is displayed in all three works. In the short story "A&P" Sammy, the main character, acts on impulse and decides to quit his job in the defense of three young women. He feels the three girls are disrespected by his boss Lengel, manager who asked the girls to leave for improper attire. By quitting, Sammy has given up his reputation in a small town for the attention of girls that just seem to vanish. This acting on impulse shapes Sammy's character into a being lacking leadership skills. In "Rites of a Passage" a young son around the age of six or seven is depicted as a leader. When he sees the other kids at his party in a conflict on how they would beat each other up, the main character, interrupts by saying he could beat up a two year old. The two boys agree with the main character and focus back on the party. This shows characteristics of leadership, problem solving, and compromising. This relates to "A&P" with Updike's image of being unsheep-like, or out of the norm. "The One Girl at the Boys' Party" by Sharon Olds shows that the processes of becoming a women are unlike processes of becoming a man. In this poem the author displays the main character, as Updike would say, "unsheep-like" in that the main character is the only girl at a all boys pool party. The author depicts puberty and life processes. These three works of art show universality through processes. Processes that shape use into who we are as an individual.