A&P By John Updike
"Policy is what the kingpins want. What others want is juvenile delinquency."
Throughout the short story "A&P" by John Updike, rebellious behavior is obviously one of the key elements. I not only saw rebellion but a change in the views of people and maturing in the main character Sammy. The clashing of the young and old ways of life is evident from clothing to the normal flow of people in the grocery store isles. Three young girls show Sammy a point of view by the end of this story about the world that he didn't even know he had. A view on life he very soon realizes might make his path into adulthood a very rocky one.
From the beginning of the story down to the very end rebellious human behavior is all you really see from the younger people loud and clear. It all starts with three girls in two piece bathing suits and no shoes slowly making their way through the A&P grocery store. Of course Sammy immediately notices them and being nineteen how could these three girls in revealing bathing suits not catch his attention. He sees them as something new to the regular routine he is use too, something refreshing. He critiques there bodies and looks and then compares them to the other customers in the store which he calls "sheep" and "house-slaves". So use to there old routine that they all seem to flow in the same direction down the isles one by one even though he says it's "not like we have one-way signs or anything" they just seem to be afraid to change the way things usually are. Unlike these three girls who chose to not only walk in the opposite direction of everyone else but to move slowly scanning each shelf, obviously enjoying the attention, and avoiding eye contact.
These girls are enjoying this silent attention from Sammy and anyone else watching up until the manager of A&P Legal makes his way over to them to tell them that "this is not the beach", their attire is not appropriate in his store, and that the next time they come in they should be decent.
Throughout the short story "A&P" by John Updike, rebellious behavior is obviously one of the key elements. I not only saw rebellion but a change in the views of people and maturing in the main character Sammy. The clashing of the young and old ways of life is evident from clothing to the normal flow of people in the grocery store isles. Three young girls show Sammy a point of view by the end of this story about the world that he didn't even know he had. A view on life he very soon realizes might make his path into adulthood a very rocky one.
From the beginning of the story down to the very end rebellious human behavior is all you really see from the younger people loud and clear. It all starts with three girls in two piece bathing suits and no shoes slowly making their way through the A&P grocery store. Of course Sammy immediately notices them and being nineteen how could these three girls in revealing bathing suits not catch his attention. He sees them as something new to the regular routine he is use too, something refreshing. He critiques there bodies and looks and then compares them to the other customers in the store which he calls "sheep" and "house-slaves". So use to there old routine that they all seem to flow in the same direction down the isles one by one even though he says it's "not like we have one-way signs or anything" they just seem to be afraid to change the way things usually are. Unlike these three girls who chose to not only walk in the opposite direction of everyone else but to move slowly scanning each shelf, obviously enjoying the attention, and avoiding eye contact.
These girls are enjoying this silent attention from Sammy and anyone else watching up until the manager of A&P Legal makes his way over to them to tell them that "this is not the beach", their attire is not appropriate in his store, and that the next time they come in they should be decent.