A & P

“A&P”
By John Updike


John Updike uses the persona of an immature teenage boy to illustrate an ambivalent attitude towards women and the growth into adulthood. This illustration is a common theme among adolescent males in society today. Updike is able to relate this to his readers through a young, growing boy, Sam, who works at an A&P. Updike then tells about an incident in which Sam had been faced with that relates to his adolescent immaturity. When the incident is over, Sam has grown up
Three young girls walk into the A&P, inappropriately dressed in bathing suits. They walk up and down the aisles looking for things, all the while drawing stares. Sam shows off his immature side of an adolescent male through his thoughts and actions. In talking with his fellow cashier, Sam describes the girls in terms of physical appearance, commenting on size, weight, curves, and prettiness. Talks as though they were pieces of meat. He also makes provocative comments to his cow...