Conformity And Consumerism In John Updike's A & P

The leading action of “A & P” resides not only in the grocery store, but primaritly in Sammy’s mind. The narrator touches on the stages of his work day while he focuses his thoughts on his denial of conventional conformity. In the early pages of “A & P,” Sammy establishes his contempt for conformity and consumerism, insinuating that the people who shop at A & P are “sheep” (Updike441) who can never be roused out of their daily routines. The word “sheep” gives readers strong imagery to picture the environment of the grocery store. The customers are compared to animals that are followers of previous actions. There is not much individualization between the thoughts and interactions of the A&P customers. They are all going through the motions
The quote “The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle -- the girls were walking against the usual traffic (not that we have one-way signs or anything) -- were pretty hilarious” (Updike441) gives great visualization of exactly what
Sammy is observing. This scene symbolizes the irl's free spirit. The girls are different and do not go with the flow of the others that surround them. They live the way they want without any remorse. The ambieance of the grocery store changed when the girls walked in wearing a bathing suit in public was a bit risky for New England in the 1960’s, but the girls didn’t seem to care. Although it was not the girl’s intentions, they were setting the path for other feminists to become their own person. They were giving people a reason to look at them and know they were diverse. In a man’s world, women seldom expressed their own individuality. These small changes had a larger change in the future for women who decided not to conform to
They were there to make a change, even if they didn’t intend to. Sammy’s coming of age shows the mindset difference between generations. This story is, on a small scale, how thought processes change throughout the years. An older adult in his position did not see this as a way of appreciating uniqueness, but of indecency and improper behavior. Sammy sees this as a way for people to express themselves in any way they want because that is more exciting. When the store manager embarrasses the girls, Sammy does not want to be a part of a play that discourages uniqueness. He “removes his apron” which symbolized moving on to the next step in his life. Once he removes his apron, he knows he can’t turn back because that would mean conforming to something he doesn’t believe in. he made a decision to quit his job that his parents got for him, but this represents him growing up and doing the things that he wants to do rather than what his parents want to do. He wants to be an individual thing and have different thoughts and opinions than his parents or other authorities.
He leaves his childhood in the past, which is hard on parents, but he left his job in the past and went in a different