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by John Updike

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John Updike was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, on March 18, 1932 and grew up in the small town of Shillington. Due to early academic success, he earned a scholarship to Harvard University, where he continued on earlier works. Following his time spent at Harvard, he spent time in England and New York, but decided the big city life was not befitting of him and moved to Ipswich, Massachusetts, a small town resembling his own hometown. Here, he began publishing books, including his "most famous novel", Rabbit Run. In 1968, he broke from his early works, and from here on his life`s influence on his writing became evident. While he was writing novels about adultery and marriage, he was going through a divorce, and as he aged he wrote of novels concerning age and things coming to an end (the exception to this was his novel The Coup, which followed an African leader in exile). And even facing criticisms from feminist accusing him of being a misogynist and others calling his depictions of human sexuality too grotesque, Updike is widely considered to be one of the greatest poetic novelists in American history.

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Flick Webb is a former high school basketball star turned mechanic who is tall, athleic ( or at least used to be), and is just droning on in life and seems discontent with his lackluster life ("Off work, he hangs around Mae’s Luncheonette.Grease-gray and kind of coiled, he plays pinball, Smokes those thin cigars, nurses lemon phosphates.", lines 25-27). As demonstrated above, Webb is characterized in the play only through his physical build and his actions.

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Updike uses quite a number of literary devices in this poem:
Parallelism: Updike uses a paralleled structure between the verb phrases "sells oil", "checks gas" and "changes flats"

Imagery: "the bright applauding tiers" suggests the crowds that once came to watch the town's superstar but now he is "Grease-gray" and dirtied from his mechanic job and life

It should also be noted that this poem was written in blank verse, a non-rhythmic form of writing in iambic pentameter to give the piece a natural sound

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Flick was once a star, who crowds cheered for, and that the whole town seemingly looked up to. Now, however, he is a discontent mechanic who longs for his past glory, but Flick is not the only one, even the narrator is reminiscent of Flick's past and revisits it himself and recalls the easier times which portrays a sad, almost depressing mood ("Once Flick played for the high-school team...His hands were like wild birds.", lines 13-18). While Updike never plainly states whether Flick's situation is bad, his use of literary devices and the rift he forms between his(Webb) bright, happy past and his bland, predictable present, creates a feeling of discontent and wasted potential.

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Willy Loman wants nothing more than his children and his own success, similar to Flick, however, his pride, along with him being haunted by past mistakes, prevents this from happening. This is where they differ, Flick is being held back by his past, but because of his past success. He was at the top of the world, and then was stripped of everything, and now lives a dull, empty life. Willy and Flick are by no means the same people, but despite their differences, both Willy Loman and Flick Webb yearn for something more out of their lives.