A&P written by John Updike and Goodfellows written by Antonya Nelson are both stories that have lots of similarities and differences in many ways. The characters experiences and the setting were completely different.
A&P took place in the mid-1990s in a grocery store north of Boston. Goodfellows takes place in a pizzeria located in Chicago. The narrators in the stories are similar in a lot of ways but also different Jane and Sammy are both 18, they are both working in the summer and plan to return to college to finish their studies after summer ends. The major conflict in A&P beginnings when Queenie and her two friends walk into the grocery store. The girls grab everyone’s attention and look to get their stuff. This conflict is between the manger Lengel when he tells the girls they can’t come in the store dressed in bathing suits and embarrasses them. The manger made them feel lesser and helpless, just because of their attire. This leads to Sammy quitting he just hands in his uniform then looks for the girls and thinks of himself as a hero. Characters like Stokesie in A&P have big responsibilities and can’t afford to lose his job over his pride he has two kids and a wife even though he is only one year older than Sammy. The main theme in this story is sometimes you must face consequences for things you believe in.
Goodfellows is also different in a lot of ways for starters the narrator is a female. This story has many conflicts one being the district manager Steve 1his baby dies from sickness. Luke and Jane seem to have a special connection with poetry and school stuff but apparently Luke doesn’t feel the same way. The main conflict in Goodfellows was the stealing Cherie and Jane were doing in the store however only Cherie got caught. Jane stated “the price of a medium pizza was $19.98, so I’d just punch No sale and refund two cents, hanging on to the twenty. I felt I deserved a little bonus now and then.” (Nelson Page 49) Cherie stole up to $500 dollars and Jane would steal $20 from time to time. The main theme is this story is things may not always appear as they seem.
Although these two great stories had many similarities and differences in the end they both had a different message and different meanings.
