Updike's "A & P" tells the story of a checkout boy, Sammy, who quits his job after his boss Mr. Lengel speaks disparagingly to three teenage girls who come into the grocery store on a summer afternoon. But on a deeper level, the story is a contrast of the conservative, conventional, and stoic (Mr. Lengel) against the free-spirited, unconventional, and non-conformist (the teenage girls). Even the staff of the market can hardly believe it when the girls wander in, because the presence of raw individualism in an environment which is usually free of it.
After the three girls parade through the store for awhile, the manager, Mr. Lengel, comes on the scene. Lengel's remark to the girls, "This isn't the beach," reinforces his conservative nature. He then approaches the girls and scolds them, implying that their attire has violated his code of ethics. The girls" appearance does not stop him from telling Sammy to ring up their purchase and take their money so they can leave. But this is too much for Sammy, as he mumbles under his breath that he quits, and when Mr. Lengel asks him to repeat his last remark, Sammy complies, pulling off his apron and walking out. Sammy is therefore telling Mr. Lengel that in his own belief system, people should be able to be frivolous when they want to.
In the last sentence of the story, Sammy realizes, as he walks away from the store, "how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter," but only in the sense that Sammy will forever be forced to challenge the Lengels of the world. Sammy at least has given himself a shot at achieving real joy in his life; Mr. Lengel will never even know that joy exists, because his worldview is too narrow to admit it.
Word count: 304.
