Two of the Same: The short stories "A&P" and "Where are you going, Where have you been?"

There are many similarities between the short stories "A&P" and "Where are you going, Where have you been?" most notably their characters. Both stories contain a female protagonist, and a male antagonist, whose confrontations start out relatively normal, and progress to more and more surreal and twisted endings. Their main characters, Sammy and Connie, are shockingly similar, and yet strangely different, one a 15 year old wishing to be older and beautiful, the …

…possibly seem shocked when it gets stolen? These two women, whether they believe it or not, are waving hundreds of flags at these conmen - "Please target me!"... "Take my leg!"... By openly flaunting their insecurities and by allowing themselves to be charmed to the point of trusting the conmen, they are, if not wholly, then at least partially responsible for their own fates. They reached their own conclusions, and they got what they deserved.