Boswell's London Journal is just the A&P of the 18th century

             

        A&P used to be a grocery store chain, based in the united states. At it's peak, the chain was as big as Walmart, however the stores filed for bankruptcy and closed all of its locations in 2015. Aside from being a successful grocery store,  A&P is also the name of a short story written by John Updike about a young cashier who works at the chain. In the story, the cashier becomes obsessed with three of the store's customers. Because the story is set in a beach town, the three customers (all girls) come into the store in their bathing suits. Every time the girls come in, the young cashier follows them around. He refers to them as foods, sheep, and makes mental notes about their body shapes. Then, when he doesn't end up with any of the girls, he gets upset and blames them. Far from being the best thing I've ever read, I couldn't help but see some parallels between the cashier in A&P and Boswell.  Throughout his London Journal, Boswell is constantly thinking about women when he isn't supposed to (in church), and frequently attempts to take advantage of them. In one instance, Boswell tries to pay a woman for an "encounter" and when she refuses and when she refuses, he forces himself on her. He only stops when other people come to the woman's aid and then he proceeds to blame the situation on her. Furthermore, through his actions, he shows that he doesn't respect women, much like the young cashier, and everything appears to be about himself. Even when Boswell does a good deed, he expects to be rewarded in some way, and it seems that he doesn't believe in "doing good for the sake of doing good". Overall, Boswell's described behavior is the eighteenth century equivalent of the cashier from A&P, only not in a grocery store,  much longer and far more extensive.