Youthful Rebellion in "A & P" Essay

Youthful Rebellion in "A & P"
John Updike's "A & P" is a story that unfolds through the mind of the main character, Sammy. Sammy's observation of his coworkers and the consumers in the grocery store is filled with contempt. His ridicule is not necessary meant to personally insult the people themselves, but rather the conformity and consumerism of American society, as witnessed in an ordinary A & P market. Sammy's rebellious attitude is both celebrated and condemned by the author. The protagonist undergoes a sort of transformation, ultimately deciding to fight against the conformist society in which he lives. However, Sammy also comes off as childish. Although he recognizes greed in others toward the goods in the grocery store, he is guilty of greed himself. Instead of focusing on products in the store, he focuses on the young women shopping. His lust is comparable to the gluttony of the shoppers. Comparing sexuality to consumerism highlights Sammy's hypocritical, nave nature. This squanders any romanticization of youthful rebellion, suggesting to the reader that nonconformity is childish in nature.
In the beginning of the story, Sammy demonstrates contempt toward the customers in the store. He feels the need to disassociate himself from the surrounding "adult" culture through internalized mockery. "She's one of those cash-register-watchersand I know it made her day to trip me up" (Updike 1290). He consistently refers to the customers as animals, calling them sheep, birds, and bees. By doing so, he establishes a sense of superiority over these adults. He does not refer to himself as any kind of animal, suggesting that he believes he is the most intelligent being in the store with a secret insight that only he possesses. His distaste comes off as arrogant and misogynistic, "You never know for sure how girls's minds work (do you really think it's a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?" (1290). Although he seems to direct his anger toward the customers themselves, the narrator suggests that his contempt stems from something much greater than the individuals present in the store.
Sammy's disproval of the patrons is a metaphor for his dissatisfaction with consumerism and conformity that plagues his world. The author paints a picture of Sammy's world by dating the story with a comment alluding to the Cold War, "he's going to be manager some sunny day, maybe in 1990 when it's called the Great Alexandrov and Pretrooshki Tea Company or something" (1291). This suggests that the story occurs at the height of the Cold War, a time of tension and anxiety in American society. Sammy's humorous comment demonstrates how much this fear had permeated into the daily lives and conversation of American people during this time period. Setting the story in this era also grounds Sammy's anti-consumerism ideology in the politics and culture of an anxious, defensive nation. Without alluding to the tension of the time period, Sammy's repulsion of consumer culture may lack legitimacy in the eyes of the reader.