John Updike’s short story “A&P”, can be interpreted in several different ways. You can look deep into every detail of the short story or take it for only what is written, possibly leaving the reader with two completely opposite conclusions. The spin put on the story by the reader is really a way to reflect on own behavior.
“A&P” briefly follows a teenager named Sammy on what seems to be a regular day at work. Sammy is the average teenager, with a bland part-time job and raging hormones. These hormones create the story’s conflict, as three bathing suit-clad girls enter his store. These three girls, perhaps unwittingly, denounce conventional behavior and challenge the normalcy of the store. Besides their clothes, they tend to wander aimlessly through out the store, disturbing the normal flow of traffic followed by other customers. Sammy gives an excellent description of this.
“The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle- the girls were walking
against the usual traffic (Not that we have one- way signs or
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