John Updike’s short story “A & P” describes an episode from Sammy’s life: the teenager working in the counter shop and thinking about the way adult people live. The text is a concise description of life in American suburbia, and the images the author uses reflect the conduct shared by most adult middle-class people in this area. From one point of view, the narrator of the story, the main protagonist, decides to leave the shop because he disagrees with the conditioned way of thinking the manager articulates. It can be regarded as a rebellion against the consumerist middle-class society and the young person’s desire to escape from the structured and dull life of the typical adult individual. From another point of view, Sammy loses the chance to earn money and risks his well-being because he is honest with the manager while fighting for the dignity of the girls he likes. There is no rational sense in this decision, which makes it entirely not justified and meaningless. It is possible to state that Sammy’s decision to quit his work is an example of an illogical whim, not a revolt against society.
Sammy decides to quit his job to show the girls that he will not tolerate the negative attitude from the manager, but they do not even see his gesture. Sammy is a teenager who works as a clerk in a small shop and lacks experience communicating with females. It is reflected in how Sammy interacts with three girls in bathing suits who suddenly enter the shop. The older manager tells them that their appearance is inappropriate for this place, which causes Sammy’s aggression (Laist 00:03:36-00:04:11). The leader of this group, whom Sammy calls Quinee in his mind, is fascinating to him. The protagonist opposes the manager, showing Quinee that he is the hero who protects their dignity. This situation makes Sammy feel he should do something extraordinary to make the girls see him. The problem is that no one pays attention to the adolescent’s heroic actions, and he leaves the shop. Quinee does not appreciate Sammy’s desire of Sammy to protect them from the manager.
Sammy does not make the right decision for him to quit his job in the shop. He needs money and understands that it would not be easy for the adolescent to find a new place. His conclusion is not rational and justified for the manager, who emphasizes it while talking to Sammy. The manager also tells the teenager that he endangers the social image of his parents when he acts in an emotional and illogical manner because he disagrees with the norms of society. Therefore, quitting the job has many opposing sides, and it spoils the quality of Sammy’s life without making a real revolt against the cultural norms. However, the primary issue is that the girls do not appreciate Sammy’s decision. Therefore, there is no need to leave the job and lose a source of income for Sammy. The protagonist understands that the consequences of his decision are depressing, and the narrator ends the story with the following words: “my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (Updike 3). He only loses from this decision and creates the reputation of an emotionally unstable adolescent.
Moreover, the protagonist does not have a stable perception of the surrounding world at the moment of narration, which becomes evident from his thoughts. For example, Sammy does not communicate much with women and thinks they are all stupid. He asks himself whether females have brains because they all act automatically and are interested only in taking the products according to their list in the shop. It is reflected in the following lines: “Do you really think it’s a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?” (Updike 1). It is possible to interpret these words as the non-conformist attitude and revolt against the structured middle-class life. At the same time, this idea is an example of Sammy’s despise towards women and middle-class life because he has neither of them. This rebellious attitude to society is typical for teenagers who think they can change the world and their views are unique. However, in reality, it manifests the anxiety the adolescents experience while facing the unknown. It makes Sammy’s decision to stop working in the shop too emotional, not rational, and meaningless.
It is difficult to regard Sammy’s behavior in the discussed text as an example of rebellious counter-cultural conduct. Instead of it, the way Sammy perceives the surrounding reality and reacts to the events creates the image of the emotional teenager who does not have a clear vision of his life. The protagonist does not revolt against the consumerist culture and the norms of society consciously. Therefore, the story “A & P” by John Updike narrates the world through the perspective of an adolescent with no developed worldview.
Works Cited
Laist, Randy. “John Updike’s ‘A&P’.” YouTube, uploaded by Randy Laist, 2011, Web.
Updike, John. A & P. 1962. Web.