A and P by John Updike Essay Example

opinions, which Sammy found refreshing. Moreover, the girls exuded youthfulness and beauty. Initially, Sammy's thoughts about one of the girl's legs are described as that of an "old lady around fifty with blush on her cheekbones and no eyebrows". The intensity of Sammy's admiration for the girls motivates him to challenge his authority figure and ultimately escape the dullness of adulthood that awaits him.

Sammy's perspective on the three girls plays a crucial role in the narrative. It is not merely his physical attraction to them that matters, but rather the values they represent. The girls' unconventional attire leaves Sammy so bewildered that he accidentally charges a customer twice for crackers. Despite Lengel's confrontational nature and Sammy's silence, they both ultimately share the same viewpoint. Nevertheless, Sammy's decision to quit stems from his own conflicting emotions toward the girls.

Sammy's disdain for looking down on girls and his conflicting emotions pushed him to quit, although it wasn't a brave action. Sammy didn't want to resemble Lengel, his boss, and portrayed him cynically, along with everyone else in the story. Lengel's comment, "This isn't the beach," when embarrassing the girls greatly annoyed Sammy. Nevertheless, Sammy's sarcastic thoughts about Lengel's words don't negate the fact that he also holds similar views on appropriateness of clothing in different social settings (Updike 736).

The sentence “You know, it's one thing to have a girl in a bathing suit down on the beach, where with the glare nobody can look at each other much anyway, and another thing in the cool of the A ; P, under the fluorescent lights, against all those stacked packages, with her feet paddling along naked over

our checkerboard green-and-cream rubber-tile floor. ” (Updike 735) illustrates Sammy’s conventional view towards clothing in specific settings. Immediately after this, Sammy thinks “Society is what the kingpins want."

According to Updike, what others desire is juvenile delinquency, indicating that Sammy becomes aware he aligns with the powerful individuals in society. Not only does Sammy perform his job, but he also shares Lengel's opinions. Sammy does not support delinquency. He labels the adults in the story as pigs, cows, sheep, and house slaves. It is evident that Sammy holds a negative and critical view of adulthood. Sammy has no desire to become one of these dreadful adults he despises so cynically.

In this story, Updike chose to tell the narrative from Sammy's perspective, with his thoughts and point of view. In the first half of the story, there is a lack of action and mainly consists of descriptive passages and thoughts. Despite being the central character, Sammy remains passive and does not take much action in the beginning. It is only when he contemplates quitting that the reader discovers Sammy's name in the second half of the story. Updike likely structured it this way to showcase Sammy's development and his emergence as an independent individual within the story.

Sammy may face unemployment by the end of the story, but he strives to assert control over his destiny in avoiding conformity to adulthood. His job serves as more than just a means of earning money, as it represents an initiation into the adult and decision-making society. Stoksie, Mcman, Lengel, and Sammy are all male individuals who manage the establishment. The majority of shoppers consist of middle-aged and visually unappealing women.

In a setting dominated by men, the girls boldly display their sexuality. This poses a challenge and may lead men to act disobediently within this society governed by policies.

Female sexuality is seen as risky and uncertain, and it has the potential to challenge conventional norms that are established in society. To Sammy, the girls embody sexuality, youthfulness, individuality, and authenticity, and he perceives them as unattainable. In this story, Sammy's actions are not driven by an intention to perform a noble and romantic act. Instead, he is influenced by the girls' ability to resist societal expectations. Sammy wishes to avoid the pitfall of mindlessly conforming to societal pressures, which often results in unhappy and unfulfilled adulthood.