"A & P", written by John Updike, tells the story of a nineteen year old checkout boy named Sammy, who suddenly quits his job after his boss, Mr. Lengel, speaks harshly to three teenage girls about the way they are dressed in his grocery store. Sammy's own character becomes defined as he finds himself caught up in a clash between the conventional views of the stoic Mr. Lengel and the frivolous, free-spirited girls. Sammy is motivated not by moral responsibility, but by distaste for the older generation and the authority that they stand for. The girls seem to bring out his non-conformist attitudes. His immaturity clouds his judgment when he allows stubborn pride to be confused with standing up for what he believes to be right. Updike weaves his theme past the obvious generation gap deep into the character contrasts that ultimately cause Sammy's own personality and values to surface and suddenly erupt to the point of no return, leaving him to face the consequences of his actions. .
It is a slow summer afternoon when three young, scantily clad girls come into the downtown A&P grocery. Their style is a sharp contrast to the regular customers, who Sammy refers to as "sheep", because they plod along as they follow their robotic, boring routine. Sammy is a typical, red-blooded teenage boy, who is driven more by impressing girls than by job responsibilities. He is distracted at the sight of the girls and his customer catches him on a checkout error. Instead of blaming himself for his mental lapse, Sammy chose to silently criticize his customer, considering her a "witch". As Sammy emerges as a non-conformist, he becomes disrespectful and judgmental as he labels the older people around him, "witch", "sheep", or "bums".
Sammy eyes the girls intently, analyzing their every move. He describes the girls with every little detail. Their presence brings a charged atmosphere to the usually dull marketplace.
