Theme: If one doesn’t take initiative to get what one wants, one will never get it. The story entitled "Checkouts" is based on the concept of love. It is written in a heavy personal oriented way, meaning that the readers can relate to it at some point.
Voice: This short story has a third-person point of view, with an omniscient narrator.
Mood: Enthralling yet romantic. The girl’s perspective adds a relaxed feeling to the piece because it’s the grocery store where people casually shop for their food, not a comfortable, stress-free space.
Tone: Ironic - When the bag boy drops her mayonnaise one would expect the customer to be annoyed. Instead, the redheaded girl surprises the readers and falls in love with him.
Both of them obsess over each other for the 4 weeks when they are apart, but when they finally see each other they don’t make eye contact or even speak. And after that, they find that they don’t love each other anymore - Most people dread the thought of grocery shopping, but somehow in the story it calms the female protagonist.
Inner conflict: The conflict of the story is relating to the fact that the bag boy and the main character were not able to see each other and acknowledge their feelings for each other. because of their different schedules.
Man v.s. man: Their schedules did not coincide, so there was no opportunity to see each other. The two characters are very similar, shy, and unable to take the initiative. As they understood there was no chance to meet each other, they started dating new people. Both the girls and the boy hate themselves because of their ignorance. They had an opportunity to meet again at the theatre with separate dates. They demonstrated an interest in each other and smiled, accepting the fact that they will never be together
Man v.s. nature: The girl and the guy vs the human nature, both want to talk to each other but their own nature prevents them from doing it.
Man v.s. superpower: It is not present in this story.
Man v.s. society: The girl was upset about moving, she had to start a new life and meet new people. She felt odd, uncomfortable for being pushed to start over.
Climax: The girl didn’t go to the bag boy’s checkout and the bag boy didn’t acknowledge the girl when she left. After their departure from each other, the girl and the bag boy both hate themselves for avoiding each other. They regret their own ignorance or shyness.
Resolution: The boy and girl meet once again in a line while with their new dates and they just smile at each other and move along. A week later, the girl ended up going on a date with someone else and the bag boy gave up his job and started working at the bookstore, a place that constantly had many girls.
New resolution: None of them could stop thinking about each other. As the red-headed girl was new in town, she thought she had nothing to lose, which is why she finally decided to look for the boy that she hasn’t been able to get out of her mind for the past weeks. As she makes up an excuse to trick her parents into.
By Kevin C, Valentina Q
& Fernando L, Step 9 Yellow
