John Updike's A&P

John Updike’s “A & P” tells a story about Sammy, a cashier at a grocery store, and his final day at work. On that day, three teenaged girls walked in the store wearing only their bathing suits, and while of course Sammy didn’t mind, his boss, Mr. Lengel, did. After Lengel confronted the girls and forced them to leave the store, Sammy quit his job and walked out too.
This story contains a number of themes. It can be looked at as a comparison of two totally different perspectives of the world. Mr. Lengel can be said to represent the old view, non-changing and conservative, while the three girls represent the non-conforming, free-spirited view that many young people seem to hold these days. The girls are walking around, causing a little bit of a disturbance because of the way they are dressed, but without a care in the world. At the end of the story, when Mr. Lengel asks the girls to please come into the store decent, “Queenie” (nicknamed by Sammy) replies, “We are...