Literary Analysis A&P” by John Updike
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Literary Analysis- A&P” by John Updike
This literary analysis covers the story by Updike set on a grocery with the plots depicting different themes as innocence, irony, trends among others. The writer is stunned by the break of tradition and the almost exposing trend new in town. Sammy is presented as one who does not understand his troubles in life. He leaves his job in a protest of the mistreatment of the girls who were presumably broken the store dressing code. In this case, is the society too un-accommodative or insensitive to the changing trends that other people are ready to follow or that the people borrow? The girls wearing the bathing suits into the grocery really raised attention and causing reactions. Therefore, should people conform to the society expectations and norms or stand out to put on whatever they feel they should.
The critic of the literary feels that by Sammy actions, he expresses an irony of naïve conclusion. Sammy himself feels he has caused harm to himself by surrendering his job and does not know of the future. The critique at a point depicts Sammy, who defended the other women initially to be underrating the world dangers, and at an instance, he silently accuses a customer of “sheep-like behavior”. Sammy accuses his customers of being ‘house-slaves’ insensitive to the actual or metaphoric slavery, but reality hits him back thoughts blinks that the customer deserved better than just being loathed. Sammy himself in such instance is so insensitive to what may befall him or any who is close to him in future that can make him get to the situation of those that he loathes.
Sammy is insensitive to the consequences of the renunciation of his job. Not minding that he also presents judgment to other people, he discriminates from within himself anyone he feels is discriminating, yet himself he does that. Like in the case of McMahon, Sammy feels he “is old and that his ogling the girls is absurd, ludicrous, grotesque and even distasteful”. Sammy himself is rigid and underrates the adult world without a further thought that the same awaits him. He feels that Lengel, the boss at A&P is proud, and even with the man advising him to reconsider quitting the job for the sake of his parents, he never had a second thought about it. Even with the consequences of his quitting the job, Sammy does not get that as a big deal.
Sammy’s choice to quit his job was mainly because he was attracted to one of the girls and wanted to make an impression not knowing that the girls were just guests on a holiday. As a teen, he narrates the feeling of falling in love at the first sight and the revelation that comes with them, becoming sympathetic to such people. He sees the girls for the first time and at a point make reference to them as his girls, feeling that the store manager will feel that " it's one thing to have a girl in a bathing suit down on the beach, where what with the glare nobody can look at each other much anyway," than walking around in it. He realizes the girls were merely attendants to Queenie, whom the writer depict to be nude from a distance even if Sammy did not realize it.
Sammy imagines the social class variation between him, the girls, and their families, which in the case worsens his distance with the older generations, as it makes him not only mind about the girls alone, but the younger generations too even with the revolution. He diversifies his thoughts about the men who attend to the sewer lines, mothers and the candies and the kids with the toys. Sammy is presented to be taking pride in his daily task at the grocery than other tasks. He feels the customers and the manager have influence over the younger generation simply because he is, and is opposed to Lengel’s expression that the girls’ code is against their policy.
Updike’s A&P is positioned and appropriate for mass ethnic customer base and middle class preference due to its value of products. Such institution is perfect for a non-conformist as Sammy, who rejects the standards of A&P but in the end, it does not go well with him. A&P demands for a level of decency, but is the policy precise or vague, and does it go to an extent of invading personal life or being insensitive to revolution trend or diversity. Sammy feels there some implicit set of values that would set him against communities as they dehumanize people around him and the customers. On the other hand, he presents judgment on the people around him and the customers of the store as he feels “he is surrounded by “house-slaves in pin curlers” and “women with six children and varicose veins mapping their legs” even going to an extent of referring to an old man as an ‘old bum’.
This piece of work presents conformism to the pre-established values that are rigid and un-accommodative to people of different cultures. Sammy comes out as a non-conformist and against all odds decides to live a life of reality than pretense refuting what he feels is wrong. He subjects people “looking out from his corner”on factual judgments other than presumed assumption “though harsh, his observations are essentially true”. He feels that the three girls who come to the grocery ‘offer the contrast of winsome innocence and supple youth’ other than the oldies that he see daily, of which the said values are against, while his seniors expressing attitude. Sammy comes against conformity and feels that the society should not be rigid on their norm but instead be accommodative to diversity and be sensitive to the changing trends.