John Updike's Story 'A & P'

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Sammy from the story "A&P", quits because he is hoping that the women will come to him as a hero. He is hoping that they will be pleased with his actions. I do not think that Sammy quit out of rebellion. I think he sympathized with the girls out of rebellion, but the quitting part was kind of something he had to do regardless since he went ahead and acted out in front of his manager.

The social processes, tensions, and changes become evident when the girls walk into the A and P with bathing suits on. This is a sign of rebellion and the message that the girls are trying to send is that they are rich and wealthy and are able to do anything they want because they are more superior than others in class.

John Updike's story "A & P" is all about the setting. If the story had not occurred in a grocery store in a beach town with the dubious hero, Sammy, being a clerk in the A & P grocery store, the story could not have happened. Without …show more content…
There cannot be special treatment or the creation of the policies in the first place would be in vain. It could be both a technical and a moral issue for the store manager, though. If the girls in their bare feet were to step on something, let's say, they could potentially sue the store. Also, I'm sure Lengel being most likely an older gentleman doesn't feel it appropriate for scantily clad girls to be running around his grocery store. I think he was right to put the safety of his business above the happiness of his customers, though. There are definitely clashing values in the story due to the generation gap between Sammy and Lengel. Younger generations are becoming more and more liberal as what exactly is socially acceptable changes with time. The girls putting their bodies on such public display definitely serves as a sort of statement that they are trying to push the boundaries of traditional
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