From the clothes they wear to the wat they speak, society teaches young girls and boys to be different. The world expects females to be more fragile thus treats them this way. The short story, “A&P,” by John Updike he believes a woman’s honor and beauty are meant to be not only admired but protected as well.
His two main characters Sammy and Lengel do not see eye to eye on this matter. Even in the 1980s Lengel is a believer in the Cult of Domesticity. Being a religious man, he believes the girls dress indecently. He says “Girls, this isn’t the beach.” While explaining they are there to pick up a jar of herring snacks, Lengel tells the girls, “That makes no difference, … We want you decently dressed when you come in here,” (Updike 20). Lengel grows impatient with the girls and says, “Girls I don’t want to argue with you. After this come in here with your shoulders covered. It’s our policy.” (Updike 20) He then turns his back signifying the end of the conversation. In the essay “The Cult of Domesticity and True Womanhood,” Lengel wants the girls to follow the submissive portion of it which states “Women were to be passive bystanders, submitting to fate, to duty, to God, and to men.”
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He sees her as more than just a common housewife or submissive servant around the house. Like spring flowers, they are delicate and beautiful creatures such as flowers. Sammy realizes the girls’ beauty from the moment they walk into the store. Updike allows the reader to see Sammy’s point of view through the words he speaks, “… with a good tan and sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it,” (17). Updike also writes about unusual things Sammy notices such as, “She came down a little hard on her heels, as if she didn’t walk in her bare feet that much,” (18). This shows the depth in which Sammy looks at the beautiful girls he