“A&P”: A story of Moral Turpitude
Short-short story “A&P” by John Updike is the best story that deals with many of life’s feelings and beliefs based on individual values taking place in a 1950’s New England, middle class neighborhood. An epic battle between lust vs. social scale vs. respect and responsibilities provides an emotional rollercoaster of morals and values. It results in a final conflict between boss and employee.
John Updike’s short-short story revolves around a teenager named Sammy employed with a New England A&P grocery store back in the 1950’s and his lustful attraction of three girls in beach wear (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). He works for the store manager, Lengel, who is also a family friend. The story ends with a clash …show more content…
He arrives to work at the A&P grocery store fulfilling his duties as a cashier and then enters three young women dressed in their two-piece beach suits. They were also barefoot, which adds to the theme that these girls stood out in a provocative way (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). At the beach itself or perhaps a store located at or near the beach, this would not have drawn any undue attention. However, these girls entered a grocery store approximately five miles from the beach, so their choice to remain in their beach attire brought them an immense amount of attention (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). When Sammy first witnesses the three girls, he immediately becomes lost in a gaze of utter attraction, which causes him to be distracted form a current customer. His lustful attraction is demonstrated in how he details his thoughts on their physical appearance. Sammy says to himself about one of the girls, “She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the back of her legs” (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012, p. 160). Sammy determines a type of identity for each girl merely by her physical appearance. The dark haired girl is only accepted in the girls group because she has the exotic beauty of an elongated chin, but will never amount to anything significant in society (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). Sammy labels the …show more content…
He also did not feel other employees had the right to display similar actions, as Sammy thought it was unethical for McMahon in the meat department to gaze at the girls due his older age (Dessner, 1988). But these three girls captured the attention of most all in the store including other customers. I believe Sammy felt some jealousy and deemed himself the only one with rights to ogling, which may explain his disdain for McMahon. As fate would have it, the three girls collected the single item they had come for and entered Sammy’s checkout station. Unbeknownst to him, this would lead to an unfortunate outcome. I could tell from reading this story how proud and lucky Sammy felt that the girls came to his register. The queen pulled money out from her bikini top. This was one of the moments that brought him over the edge. I believe Sammy felt he was about to ring up a goddess, a girl that lived her life the way she decided, not society. She could do no wrong. Because Sammy had already formulated this opinion, it broke a bond that existed with his boss when a war broke out between Lengel and the girls. Lengel made a point to address the way the girls were dressed. This caused some embarrassment and ultimately ended the ecstasy that the girls brought into what was just an ordinary day. Well, Sammy could not have this, especially with the level of
Short-short story “A&P” by John Updike is the best story that deals with many of life’s feelings and beliefs based on individual values taking place in a 1950’s New England, middle class neighborhood. An epic battle between lust vs. social scale vs. respect and responsibilities provides an emotional rollercoaster of morals and values. It results in a final conflict between boss and employee.
John Updike’s short-short story revolves around a teenager named Sammy employed with a New England A&P grocery store back in the 1950’s and his lustful attraction of three girls in beach wear (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). He works for the store manager, Lengel, who is also a family friend. The story ends with a clash …show more content…
He arrives to work at the A&P grocery store fulfilling his duties as a cashier and then enters three young women dressed in their two-piece beach suits. They were also barefoot, which adds to the theme that these girls stood out in a provocative way (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). At the beach itself or perhaps a store located at or near the beach, this would not have drawn any undue attention. However, these girls entered a grocery store approximately five miles from the beach, so their choice to remain in their beach attire brought them an immense amount of attention (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). When Sammy first witnesses the three girls, he immediately becomes lost in a gaze of utter attraction, which causes him to be distracted form a current customer. His lustful attraction is demonstrated in how he details his thoughts on their physical appearance. Sammy says to himself about one of the girls, “She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the back of her legs” (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012, p. 160). Sammy determines a type of identity for each girl merely by her physical appearance. The dark haired girl is only accepted in the girls group because she has the exotic beauty of an elongated chin, but will never amount to anything significant in society (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). Sammy labels the …show more content…
He also did not feel other employees had the right to display similar actions, as Sammy thought it was unethical for McMahon in the meat department to gaze at the girls due his older age (Dessner, 1988). But these three girls captured the attention of most all in the store including other customers. I believe Sammy felt some jealousy and deemed himself the only one with rights to ogling, which may explain his disdain for McMahon. As fate would have it, the three girls collected the single item they had come for and entered Sammy’s checkout station. Unbeknownst to him, this would lead to an unfortunate outcome. I could tell from reading this story how proud and lucky Sammy felt that the girls came to his register. The queen pulled money out from her bikini top. This was one of the moments that brought him over the edge. I believe Sammy felt he was about to ring up a goddess, a girl that lived her life the way she decided, not society. She could do no wrong. Because Sammy had already formulated this opinion, it broke a bond that existed with his boss when a war broke out between Lengel and the girls. Lengel made a point to address the way the girls were dressed. This caused some embarrassment and ultimately ended the ecstasy that the girls brought into what was just an ordinary day. Well, Sammy could not have this, especially with the level of