John Updike's AandP

¶ … a&P by John Updike

The Themes of Women Empowerment and Modern vs. Traditional American Society in John Updike's A&P

The short story A&P by John Updike chronicles the contemporary American society and how it treats issues of social stratification among members of the society. Written in the 1960s, A&P provides an insightful look at the dynamics of gender and socio-economic differences of people in American society. What is remarkable about this literary work is that it discusses issues on social stratification in the eyes and viewpoint of Sammy, a young man who works at the convenience store A&P. Sammy's character is an interesting and essential factor that gives the issue of social stratification because he serves as Updike's 'commentator' on sensitive issues such as gender discrimination on women and the snobbish and oppressive nature of the elite class in the society. Through Sammy's eyes, Updike's audience is given a holistic view of the American society during his time.

Thus, this essay provides in-depth analyses of two main themes discussed in the short story. These themes are women empowerment (gender stratification issue) and achieving the 'Great American dream' (socio-economic stratification issue). These themes are discussed and studied in terms of the characters and events surrounding the story's dismal, yet realistic ending.

The first theme discussed in the short story is the issue of gender discrimination among women. In the story, Sammy serves as the 'male chauvinist' character, providing an explicit description of the three young women he encounters in the convenience store. Initially, audiences would react at the seemingly sexist comments of Sammy, wherein he looks at the young women's physical attributes only and making unpleasant remarks at them (through his narration to the reader). Sammy exemplifies how society looks down on women simply because they are judged according to what they wear and what their attitude is: "In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits... You never know for sure how girls' minds work (do you really think it's a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glassjar?)" This passage illustrates Sammy's own bias against women, which is a mixture of admiration (for their beauty) and criticism (for being bold enough to wear only bathing suits in a convenience store).

However, as the story progresses, it turns out that Sammy's opinions about the three women are shallower compared to what other people has to say about the young women. The main conflict begins when Lengel, the manager of the convenience store, restrained the three girls. Sammy expressed disagreement over Lengel's reprimanding and embarrassing the bathing-suit-clad women when he saw them inside the convenience store: "We want you decently dressed when you come here." When one of the women exclaimed, "We are decent," the strain about how women are treated by other sectors of the society (the conservative one) become apparent. In this case, the conflict between Lengel and the three young women signifies the dichotomy between the modern and traditional society, where Lengel (conservative society) tries to impose the traditional norms to the three young women, who have amore modern and liberated way of living their lives (i.e, they are not restrained by conventions about how women should act or behave within their society).