John Updike A & P Irony

Working on analyzing things I’m not super passionate about and not being a total bore
In struts three boys, decked in nothing but bathing suits. They are nothing but an off-beat in the progression of time. Life continues, goods are bought, and they fade from the consciousness of all witnesses. In the short story A&P by John Updike, readers are introduced to Sammy, a young burnout cashier stuck in a cycle unrelenting until his death. The story jumps into action when three girls walk into the store, clad only in their swimsuits. The monotony of the A&P, combined with nonlinear happenings and Sammy's internal monologue, display the ideals of the decade in glaring detail. His sentiment of the girls and the reactions of people in the A&P are embedded into the story, but when reading, the difference between acceptable behavior at the time the story was written and today is glaring. The story A&P gives insight to the evolved sexism and rape culture of today’s society.
The adapted similarities on ideals of modesty are clear with the generational separations throughout the story. Older generations tend to have more sexist beliefs imprinted upon them, however, they are less subtle than those of their younger counterparts. While seeing boys walk around with little clothing likely would not have drawn nearly as much attention, the girls are gawked at and elicit shock in whoever laid eyes on them. The girls are seen as inherently sexual.

Lengel, the manager, lectures them, repeating, “this isn't the beach." Sammy, however, quits after this interaction, saying, “You didn't have to embarrass them,” right after. The older Lengel sees the girls as an offense to the sanctity of the A&P, whereas Sammy does not view the occurrence at nearly the same level of importance. This is where a generational disconnect comes into play. The thought of being so indecent in the A&P is abhorrent to older people, but to the younger people, while an anomaly, it is not regarded as absolutely shameful. This, however, only seems to apply to girls. They are expected to be decent, and once they begin looking like an adult, they are treated as such, no matter their maturity. Today, different forms of the same sexist expectations are still seen, with excessive dress codes banning exposed shoulders and over attentiveness of young girls wardrobe choices, when the same care is seldom given to what boys wear. Differentiated ideologies on dignity and modesty were and still are present in society.
Expression of the young men’s lust in the story shows the sexism and rape culture of the time and it's mirroring of current society. Sammy is 19, and his coworker is 22, but that does not stop either of them from acting inappropriately in their work environment. His coworker says, "oh Daddy," upon seeing the girls, and Sammy replies, "Darling, hold me tight." This reaction highlights the lack of respect for women that the men have, and the fact that his coworker is married with kids only amplifies this. He has a wife at home, whom he pledged to remain faithful to, and he still cannot keep his eyes and mind off of the sexualized girls. Later, Sammy narrates, “you know, it's one thing to have a girl in a bathing suit down on the beach, where what with the glare nobody can look at each other much anyway, and another thing in the cool of the A & P.” He strips away the human aspect of the customers and reduces the girls to sex objects, only there for him to fantasize after while they are oblivious. This parallels our current world. Underge girls are catcalled and stared at because of their figure, and while conversations with a colleague regarding the body of a girl in a work environment is largely unacceptable, the inappropriate actions are still being carried out, just often in a more discreet way. Unacceptable displayal of attraction continue to show sexism and rape culture of our world.
Similarly, the change of predation in society is clear with the portrayal of the characters in A&P. When the girls are walking around the store, Sammy narrates their encounters with other people present in the store. The man working at the meat counter is shown as, “old McMahon patting his mouth and looking after them sizing up their joints.” He is much older than the three underage girls, and yet he still objectifies them and is open about his attraction to them. He is unprofessional in the work environment, and nothing is done about it. Sammy says he feels sorry for them, but still makes no action to stop the predatory glances thrust upon them. His empathy is killed once there is something to gain from the girls. A common belief of people today is that sexualizing someone is ‘okay’ if no physical aspect is attempted. Even Lengel is seen to be looking places he should not be, clearly illustrated in the quote, “That makes no difference," Lengel tells her, and I could see from the way his eyes went that he hadn't noticed she was wearing a two-piece before.” Both of these men are significantly the elder of the girls, but still cannot keep their eyes and thoughts decent. The predatory actions are not limited to the late 1900s, and we are still seeing this in day to day life. Older men still cross boundaries, and underage girls are preyed upon by people justifying it with claims about maturity, but, prosecution for these actions is much more common in the current social climate. The core concepts at the center of these ideals have not changed, but the expressal of them have shifted.
In the end, while sexism and rape culture have altered, the same concepts are present across the timeframes.

The story A&P paints the sexism and rape culture present when it was written, making it still relevant today when compared with now. The generational views of modesty, expression of younger men’s lust, and predation present in the story indicate the seemingly constant influx of sexist beliefs packaged in a different box. The hypersexualization of girls pertains. If the root cause is never wiped out, no true progression will be

made.

Reflection: I had an okay time with this. It’s not my favorite piece, but I think I did decently as I didn’t care for the story much. It was super helpful to have people edit my paper, and Jordan, David, and Olivia all were very helpful. I left this alone for a good amount of time so I could come back with fresh eyes, which I think is a strategy I’ll end up using again.