Struggle for contentment (A&P)...I

John Updike is one of the most venerated writers worldwide; his creations sink the readers into their personal reminiscences. I have made an attempt to jot one of his of his most popular youthful stories "A&P" within my critical review. Sammy is a teenager (17) who experiences a radical change in his realization of his values and norms.

As the designed pattern of the society being followed since centuries, every one of us is assigned with some responsibilities and duties it wants us to fulfill. But, what if a member goes against its conviction and decides to follow his own beliefs? Every one of us goes through a sudden and unplanned incident in our lives that changes our mentality and perception towards the society. In John Updike's story “A&P”, the protagonist, Sammy, represents a character who decides to abandon the programmed lifestyle of the society and stand for his beliefs. As he keenly observes the tedious daily lives of people as a cashier in A&P, he decides not to be a follower of their planned lives, but is caught up in conflict between his beliefs and boundaries.


Moreover, his internal conflict is endorsed by the courage of the girls walking into the store in mere bathing suits and their comparison with the submissive "sheep" in the store. Following his heart and belief, he begins imagining his life outside the boundaries of A&P however a little agitated by the demonstration of society's scathing reaction towards the girls' non-conformist action of walking into the store in bikinis. He is undergoing an epiphany by which his view of life is greatly altered.

At the initiation of the story, Sammy is portrayed as a very vigilant, immature, inexperienced, and enthusiastic teenager. He amuses himself by observing and critiquing his customers like the tetchy old lady, who had been watching the cash registers for forty years. Although he works in a store with customers, he is not content with his monotonous and prosaic routine and does not think highly of his customers. We know this because, in the very beginning of the story, he calls his unaware and dull customers "sheep", who acquiesce themselves to their tedious routine and turn blind towards any incidents, i.e., non reactant towards any incident around them. We know this as he states, "I bet you could set off dynamite in an A & P and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their lists." He further adds his dissatisfaction and amusement, observing their dumb acts of purchasing unnecessary goods, when he says, "What do these bums do with all that pineapple juice' I've often asked myself."

Sammy is not serious about his life and future and is not sure about what he wants; he takes everything as a matter of levity and is not serious about his commitments and responsibilities towards A&P. He is rebellious and longs for change; he takes no time to stand for himself and criticizes people's ignorance about their own dwelling areas. We are aware of this when he says, "There's people in this town who haven't seen the ocean for twenty years." However, he is not free of the stereotypical teenage infatuation and surrenders himself to his physical observation while he describes Queenie's physical attribute as, "long white prima donna legs." He further illustrates his attraction for Queenie and her confidence when he says, "She held her head so high her neck, coming up out of those white shoulders, looked kind of stretched."

However, his immaturity about the girls is revealed in his quote, " 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?" Hence, all of these instances show that Sammy is a rebellious, nonconformist, and observant adolescent who likes to stand for himself and does not admire the dreary regulations and lifestyle of the society.