Rebellious Age In Max Apple's 'Stepdaughters'

The Rebellious Age Throughout all of history, the actions of teenagers have been scrutinized by adults. This scrutiny can be seen in short stories such as, John Updike’s “A & P,” as well as Max Apple’s “Stepdaughters.” For “Stepdaughters” we can see the rebellion through the 15-year-old Stephanie’s continuation of shot-putting, despite her mother’s disapproval and her stepfathers ‘neutral’ position. While in “A & P” the rebellious behavior of wearing their bathing suits into the store is disapproved upon by the manager, whereas the employee feels they have done no wrong. The stories’ conflicts have similar features: antagonists who oppose the choices of the teenage girls and protagonists who support the girls.
It is clear to see that the girls in each story have someone who opposes the choices they have made. In the case

As Stephanie became stronger, Helen grew even more distraught, she drove to Stephanie’s school accusing her of taking drugs after watching a report on the Today show about it (Apple 134), and even banned Stephanie from doing dynamic tension at the dinner table (Apple 135). Helen had “declared total war on shot-putting,” (Apple 135). While the conflict between Stephanie and Helen occur on a personal level, the conflict that takes place in “A & P” seems to occur on a more professional level. Lengel, the manager of the store, in a sense, only opposed the girls’ outfits because it is against store policy (Updike 158). He repeatedly tells the girls that “this isn’t the beach” given their outfits of choice, bathing suits (Updike 158). One may also argue that Lengel has