Conformity Or Insurgency In John Updike's A & P

Growing Up: Conformity or Insurgency At any age in life, decisions are prominent. Whether it pertains to an adolescent choosing to rebel against his/her parents, or an adult choosing to conform into adult reality. In every situation or circumstance two choices persist, conformity or insurgency. In John Updike’s story “A & P,” the main character, Sammy, is faced with a decision that could potentially be life changing. When Sammy is close to being engulfed in the status represented by A&P, he is well assured that he is not like those related to the store; he views himself as better. Throughout Updike’s story, he constantly reveals why Sammy chooses to rebel and not conform into the ideal and expected ways of A&P. From the beginning, Updike points out that Sammy realizes he is not like the “sheep” and “houseslaves” roaming through the store (156). From the single phrase above, it initially gives readers an insight to how Sammy views himself as well as other people. Sammy is confident that he is not like Strokesie who “thinks he is going to be manager some sunny day,” nor like Lengel who “scuttle[s] into that door marked manager behind which he hides all day” (157-158). Sammy is a very confident, judgmental eighteen-year-old as Updike …show more content…
Updike asserts, “so I say I quit to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they’ll stop and watch me,” associating the point that Sammy rebels to impress the girls (159). At the time, in the 1960s, having a job is important, but rebellion was even more so. It was no secret that Sammy needed this job, as Updike tunes the audience in when Lengel says, “you don’t want to do this to your Mom and Dad” (159). Subsequently meaning, Sammy inevitably felt moved by how Lengel was being towards the girls. Sammy wanted to make a stand, for justice, for rebellion, and for attention from the