John Updike's Short story "A & P" first published in The New Yorker and then in Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories (1962), has become something of a classic of college literature anthologies, and no doubt the story's brevity and its outrageously naive yet morally ambitious teen-age hero have much to do with that status.
"The A & P", tremendously affects the decisions of the main characters. This story took place in the early to mid 1900's, and during this time it was not acceptable to appear in public dressed inappropriately (Lawrence, 1988). If this incident would have taken place today, then nobody would think anything of it, and there would be nothing to write a story over.
The story begins with little-to-no foreshadowing and doesn't enlighten the reader until about half way through the piece. All of the sudden, the reader is cast into an "A & P" grocery store in what I would think to be the late 1950's. Although undocumented, the writer gives details that point to this time period. I didn't think I would enjoy the story because it doesn't provide much background information on anything. However, as I began to read the story I was able to create background information of my own which changed my opinion
about the story altogether.
Updike's "A & P" tells the story of a checkout boy, Sammy, who quits his job after his boss Mr. Lengel speaks disparagingly to three teenage girls who come into the grocery store on a summer afternoon. But on a deeper level, the story is a contrast of worldviews: the conservative, conventional, and stoic (represented by Mr. Lengel) against the free-spirited, individualistic, and non-conformist (represented by the teenage girls).
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