John Updike A & P Conflict

An Exploration of Social Power Dynamics in John Updike’s A&P
John Updike’s A&P is a short story that explores the moral dilemma faced by Sammy, a teenage clerk who works at a supermarket. Sammy is working his regular shift, when he notices three girls enter the store in bathing suits. He immediately is drawn to both their beauty and their free-spirited nature, admiring their ability to resist society’s expectations of them. The story progresses, and Sammy faces a moral dilemma when his boss Lengel scolds the girls for their attire, leading to Sammy quitting his job in protest. The story ends with him walking out of the store and into a new phase of his life, uncertain of his place in the world. Evaluating the story from a social power perspective

For example, he tells the girls “We want you decently dressed when you come in here” (Updike). He chooses to scold the girls and their behavior to maintain the status quo of the supermarket and uphold his traditional values. From a social power perspective, Lengel’s behavior can be understood as the historic behavior of a dominant social class using their status to exert control over lower social classes by enforcing conformity to arbitrary societal norms. Lengel’s status as a manager makes him one of the most dominant individuals in the store’s society, and he uses that power to control the comparatively lower social class of first-time customers of the

As an average member of the working class, Sammy has a very limited amount of power and control over his life. His job is quite literally to stand behind a counter and watch people go about their lives. He sees individuals progressing through their day-to-day lives, whereas he is forced to stay where he is, both literally and figuratively. Even though Sammy is extremely dissatisfied with his monotonous job, he is afraid to quit. This is shown when he reflects, “my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (Updike). He feels stuck in his current position in the world, an experience that is commonly felt among those in the working class. Even after quitting, Sammy feels hopeless as he realizes how challenging his life will be. Sammy's story is a strong reminder of the struggles and challenges that many individuals face as a result of their lower socioeconomic status. His experience sheds light on the limited power and control that working-class individuals have over their lives; showing how difficult it can be to break free from the constraints of societal