Imagery In John Updike's A & P

John Updike’s A&P is composed of detailed imagery. Updike paints a portrait of each character which allows the reader to see through the eyes of Sammy. Sammy describes the physical appearances of the girls and their behavior (such as how they walk) to describe their personalities. In the story, Sammy describes the Queen, “She kind of led them, the other two peeking around and making their shoulders round. She didn’t look around, not this queen, she just walked straight on slowly, on these long prima-donna legs.” From this description, the reader can understand why Sammy has dubbed this character as the leader of her trio. Furthermore, the reader can infer that the Queen is sassy, fierce, and confident. Additionally, Updike’s literary method not only aids the story in character development, but also depicts the severity of the girls’ actions by wearing bathing suits into a supermarket. Through Sammy, Updike explains how the girls startled shoppers by their attire, “You could see them, when Queenie’s white shoulders dawned on them, kind of jerk, or hop, or hiccup,

In this manner, Updike is able to introduce the theme of rebelling against culture norms. Updike describes how the girls walk against traffic to explain how their attire is against social and store policy. “The sheep pushing their cats down the aisle-the girls were walking against the usual traffic (not that we have one-way signs or anything)-were pretty hilarious.” Furthermore, the reader can infer how the social norm for appropriate attire is generally known and accepted, although it is not written definitely. In essence, everyone understands and follow such norms, but the action of the three girls is seen as driving on the wrong side of the road. Such behavior and action is not tolerated by society, but the girls persist in their rebellious