Comparing the Female Protagonists in Groundhog Day and A P

Role of the Female Protagonists in Groundhog Day and A P Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray, is a film about a television weatherman named Phil who relives the same day, 2 March, over and over again. A P is a short story by John Updike in which a cashier, Sammy, has his routine day disrupted when three girls wearing swimming suits stroll into the grocery store where he works and are confronted by the manager. Though their storylines vary greatly, in both works the main character in each is a self-centered, condescending male who eventually realises the flaws in his character. This realisation is, in part, brought out by supernatural forces in Groundhog Day and by a managers harsh words in A P. However, in each†¦show more content†¦Unlike Phil, she never tells a lie or says a harsh word about anyone. The character of Queenie is less developed-she is only shown though the narrators eyes as she walks through the supermarket with her two friends. However, she still represents something that Sammy is not: she is a leader and she is blithely unconventional; she is a challenge to the status quo. When Sammy sees the girls he comments You know its one thing to have a girl in a bathing suit down on the beach. Where . . . nobody can look at each other much anyway, and another thing in the cool of the AP under the fluorescent lights . . . Sammy says nothing to indicate that he disagrees with the social norm. Queenie, however, sees no reason to adhere to such conventions. When scolded by the manager, she replies by saying, We are decent. It never occurs to her that what she has been doing might not be acceptable. Thus, Rita, the sensitive, caring person, and Queenie, the non-conformist, act as possible role models for the male protagonists to aspire to: The attraction Phil feels toward Rita and Sammy feels toward Queenie is the motivating force that compels the men to change. Phils attraction to