Updike, "A & P", and Conformity

1.) Like many of you, I have had jobs where I would have loved to simply walk out but was scared of the repercussions. I think that Updike does a great job of taking a normal, everyday situation, and showing how it can be life changing. I really enjoyed his writing style and descriptive illustrations of every detail he noticed in the store. Sammy obviously had been working there too long. All in all I can really relate to this story and think Updike did a great job of describing the experience in a way we all could connect.

2.) Updike’s “A & P” begins with Sammy, a 19 year old cahier seeing three girls, a sight obviously uncommon in his grocery store setting. While observing, aside from the intricate description of their physical appearances, he assesses the girls and their lives solely on how they walk throughout the store and interact with one another. He is able to distinguish the leader from the “sheep”. He admires the leader and seems envious of her confidence and poise. He then begins to assess the other customers and their actions and also tags them as “sheep” in response to their predictable actions and behavior in the store. Although criticizing these “sheep” knowing they are oblivious to his observations, he begins to realize that he himself is one of them, simply going through the motions of everyday life.
Updike’s repeated references to the actions of the customers paralleling that of herded animals shows his disgust in society’s acceptance of conformity. In defiance of this mindset; after his life eye opening encounter with the girls, the narrator seizes the opportunity presented by his manager to quit his job and separate himself from the store and the constraints it was putting on him. At the conclusion of the story Sammy is alone again and acknowledges that his journey ahead will be difficult; but at least he will pave his own path and not follow others down one already lined.
Updike uses a typical setting where everyone can relate, however, not necessarily describing a grocery store but life in general. Updike believes we do things because it is instilled in our minds that we should. Sammy transforms from a follower into a leader. Updike criticizes his observations of our “sheepish”, conformed human behavior with Sammy defying not only his manager but society; and encourages the reader to be a leader rather than follow in the footsteps of one.