"In walk three girls in nothing but bathing suits."(Updike, pg 16) "I looked around for my girls.." (Updike pg 20)
I chose these two nonconsecutive lines because I feel that the transformation that his mind is going through is very interesting. He notices the girls shortly after they enter the store, and throughout their quest for the herring snacks. We don't know how long they were in the store, but it couldn't have been long. After all, they were only after one thing. He notices several details about them, so much so, that you(the reader) can feel his one-way connection with them growing stronger by each line read. By the end of the story, he feels strong enough for them that he quits his job on their behalf, because he feels so embarrassed for them. He thinks he is going to be their hero, and in his mind, they might be so impressed with his heroic act that they will wait for him to come out of the store and live happily ever after. After all, they were now HIS girls in his mind.
I think he knew it was the wrong decision and he was trying to be really careful about it. His boss was a family friend and he knew that word was going to spread to his parents. The fact that he folded the apron and put it on the counter and put the bow on top(pg 20) shows the respect. He could have ripped if off and threw in on the floor, but he didn't. He know this was not a good choice and he was stepping lightly.
Do you think the last line, "...I felt how hard the world was going to be to me thereafter." is about him realizing that he let the pretty girls get ahold of his emotions (unaware is they were), and he allowed himself to get so carried away? Like men/women often do.
In studying the work of the recently late Dr. George Thompsom, I am learning how to make a connection with people, without them even knowing, work for you. How to communicate with them and get information from them that they would not have normally given you. Or get a better reation than they would normally give. Also, to keep yourself more organized and calm in bad situations to get a job done or get information. That connection we build with people is very important and we need to learn to deal with it properly.
ReplyDeleteHis work is very interesting. If any of you are interested it is called, "Verbal Judo" by Dr. George Thompson