Analysis methods and applications

¶ … A&P by John Updike. Specifically, it will contain an analysis of the story, including the theme of rebellion in the story. "A&P" is a very short story of teen rebellion, and it is memorable because of its images and interesting characters. Updike creates characters the reader cares about, and that is what makes the story so strong and appealing.

Updike's story tells the tale of three bathing-suit clad girls who enter a grocery store and make a scene. Today, girls in bathing suits in a grocery store do not seem very important, but in 1962, when the story was written, it was a big deal. That is why the manager confronts them, embarrasses them, and tells them not to come back. It is the story of youth and teen rebellion, even when that rebellion seems to be pointless and undeserved.

The plot of the story is quite simple. Sammy, a nineteen-year-old cashier works at an A&P grocery store. It is summer, and although the store in not near the beach, three girls wearing bathing suits enter the store and walk up and down the aisles. They command attention from the other shoppers, and sexual comments from the young male cashiers. The store manager reprimands them for coming in the store in such skimpy dress, and Sammy, in a misguided way to stand up for them, quits his job. The story is simple and quick to read, but it still has many important elements of any successful short story.

Updike does not really flesh out each character in great detail, and yet it is easy to see who they are by his vivid descriptions. For example, he writes of the lead girl - who he calls the queen. He says, "She came down a little hard on her heels, as if she didn't walk in her bare feet that much, putting down her heels and then letting the weight move along to her toes as if she was testing the floor with every step, putting a little deliberate extra action into it" (Updike 188). Immediately the reader can see the group of girls moving deliberately down the store aisle, following their leader and defying anyone to question why they are there. His characterization proves that a story does not need to contain long, detailed descriptions of each character to make the words come alive. Rather, the author needs to use just the right words to convey meaning and character to the reader, and the reader can use his or her imagination to fill in the other, minor details.

The theme of the story is also very simple. Basically, the cashier, who is only called by name (Sammy) a few times in the story, feels he must do the "right" thing after his manager embarrasses the girls in front of other customers. He quits his job in an attempt to impress the girls, but they are not even aware of him or his actions. He consciously rebels against the authority of his older boss, and gives up his job. Rebellion is woven throughout the story, because the girls in their bathing suits are also rebels. They are shopping in outfits that do not fit into the image of a 1960s supermarket, and so, they create confusion. Updike writes, "A few houseslaves in pin curlers even looked around after pushing their carts past to make sure what they had seen was correct" (Updike 190). Because their shoulders are bare, they are disciplined by the manager for flaunting authority. Their rebellion is short and meaningless, but the cashier's rebellion is absolute, because he quits his job, but it is meaningless as well. Thus, Updike shows that teen rebellion is often misguided and does not accomplish anything in the end.

The conflict in the story is Jim's argument with his boss. He says, "You didn't have to embarrass them," and his boss replies, "It was they who were embarrassing us" (Updike 195). It is a very basic conflict between authority and freedom, and Sammy chooses freedom, because he knows that elementarily he is right. The girls caused no harm, and there was no need to call further attention to them. However, Sammy's conflict with his manager is much more permanent than the girl's conflict. They are already gone and forgotten, while Sammy is not, and may regret his hasty decision. In fact, he thinks to himself at the end of the story, "[M]y stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter" (Updike 196). Sammy has learned a lesson from his rebellion, while it is questionable that the girls learned anything at all. Thus, the conflict has ended for them, but it will certainly continue for Sammy, which is part of the theme of the story, as well.