What Is Updike's View Of Society In A & P

"A&P" is a short story written by John Updike that gives readers a glimpse into an alternate view on society. The story, described in vivid detail through the eyes of the main character Sammy, takes place in a small-town grocery store called "A&P." Although on the surface this piece is a story of a typical teenager, it is what is in the opaque water below that is the most interesting. The story of "A&P" shows the narrator's view of society and his unwillingness to become like all the others that he describes as "sheep." The author shows his pessimistic view of society by describing how the individual members of society follow pre-determined rules and rarely stray from their set paths. Sammy has a strong fascination with a group of girls who boldly enter the store in nothing but bathing suits and keep their heads up high, despite the looks of all of the other customers. Updike shows us his view of society through the customers he describes as sheep, the free-thinking girls, and of particular interest to Sammy is the most confident girl
Although Updike uses vivid aesthetic qualities the girls possess, he seems to notice more the way they carry themselves through the store and the reactions of the "sheep" around them. The three girls represent the unbridled side of life, the individuals that take a step outside into the "unspoken" zone. These adventurous and quite different sheep are the ones looked at with confused eyes as they "confidently walk into a grocery store on an otherwise normal day." The author shows this adventurism when stating the "sheep" wouldn't turn the head for an explosion but these girls that stepped outside the worn path "jiggled them" enough to "look around after pushing their carts past to make sure what they had seen was