John Updike's Short Story 'A & P'

There are jests that start with a guy walks into a bar. How about three girls walk into a store in bikinis. The setting in whole fabricates a different impression than what we would have today in the mid-august at the Jersey Shore. The short story A&P was published in 1986; However, the A&P took place during a revolutionary point in history with Martin Luther King Jr and the civil rights movement in the 1950’s. The teenage girls act as if they are a part of this revolutionary movement with their attitude and outfits because of the setting in the story. Therefore, In A&P the era and place shapes the reader's perspective of the girls versus the character's judgmental opinion of them in the short story.
The time period of John Updike's short
Time seriously impacts the shocking events of the three girls walking into a store in a two-piece suit; However, if they were at the beach and walking in a store on the boardwalk no one would have been bothered. Furthermore, Sammy agrees with this statement with his thought, “It's not as if we're on the Cape; we're north of Boston and there’re people in this town haven't seen the ocean for twenty years” (page 3). Additionally, in John Updike's short story A&P it is shown abnormal to have this outfit in a store with the store managers saying, “We want you decently dressed when you come in here" (page 4) and “Girls, I don't want to argue with you. After this come in here with your shoulders covered. It's our policy” (page 4). This shows that the manager does find the girl's attire abnormal. Also, it is proven that they are not near a beach with this thought of Sammy’s, “Our town is five miles from a beach, with a big summer colony out on the Point, but we're right in the middle of town, and the women generally put on a shirt or shorts or something before they get out of the car into the street” (page 3). Even in the twenty-first century, imagine a stranger walking down the streets of reading in a bikini. Also, the quote “Girls, this isn't the beach” spoken by Lengel shows that the manager believes the girls are in the wrong. In the quote he is yelling at the three girls. Lengel, the store manager, believes that the girls are being disrespectful. Location of the short story impacts the reader's impression of the three