Essay on A P by John Updike - 1263 Words

A P John Updike, one of the most forward-thinking and socially provocative writers of the 50s and 60s, is known for his â€Å"incisive presentation of the quandaries of contemporary personal and social life.† (Lawn 529) Updike graduated from Harvard University and wrote for one of the more cutting edge publications like The New Yorker- both are notoriously ahead of their time and harbor controversial ideas. In his short story â€Å"AP†, Updike reveals a young man named Sammy in a society on the brink of a social revolution- one in which a group of girls and an innocent cashier will unknowingly lead. Updike, through symbolism and syntax, shows how the girls are leading the revolution, how Sammy is feeling the wrath of this revolution, and†¦show more content†¦The girls, despite their obvious fashion faux-pas, carry themselves with a certain confidence and individuality that is rare in this society. Updike has Sammy refer to the other customers as sheep, pigs, h ouse slaves, and even as having a fuselage- revealing how ‘empty’ these citizens are. The references to sheep are clear symbols for the conformity of the late 1950s and early 1960s. The trend (or revolution) towards non-conformity is quickly approaching as the three girls are leaders of this new movement. Their wealth allows them to most likely live within a large city where the world moves much faster than in the rural regions and even in the suburbs. Whereas cities are always advancing in all aspects, the small communities, much like the one Sammy lives in, tend to hold onto tradition and more conservative values. The normal behavior for beach-goers in this small town is, as Updike so blatantly puts it, â€Å"the women generally put on a shirt or shorts or something before they get out of the car into the street.† (Lawn 401) The three girls are part of a new generation, one that is changing styles of fashion and lifestyle faster than ever before. Sammy at first is an innocent onlooker to this fiasco. Sammy devotes much more descriptive quality to the girls than to anyone or anything else surrounding him. In describing Queenie’s bathing suit he says, â€Å"the straps were down.Show MoreRelatedA P By John Updike982 Words   |  4 PagesThe story that this research paper is being written over is â€Å"AP† by John Updike. This story is filled with good grammar and has a well written plot and good transition. A person reading the story â€Å"AP† could see it as an interesting story filled with good symbolism. The main character, Sammy, uses a great deal of symbolism when describing the three girls in bathing suits who walked into the store he works in. the three girls in bathing suits that walked into the store where the center of the wholeRead MoreA P By John Updike1190 Words   |  5 PagesA P is a story of Sammy who is a 19 year old boy working as a clerk at a grocery store in a small town in New En gland. Published back in 1961 narrative defining A P is the popular mythology of 1960s basically where youthful rebellion powers took over the soulless system. (Sustana) Therefore Updike has written a story that includes key elements of myth along with the background of postwar prosperity and the attendant consumer culture. Where there is a strong hint of the Cold War as hero characterRead MoreA P By John Updike1704 Words   |  7 PagesIn the story AP by John Updike a young cashier by the name of Sammy learns about the power of desire and the mystery of others minds when working at an AP supermarket in a small town north of Boston in the 1960’s, where there was a lot of social norms and many people didn’t step out of them. The young nineteen-year-old Sammy wasn’t expecting his Thursday shift at AP to go the way it did when income three young girls but, these are not your socially normal teenagers who come walking in the doorRead MoreA P By John Updike1160 W ords   |  5 Pagesthe girls’ exit and regret fills him. What he thinks is noble and just becomes a changed, regretful soul. In â€Å"AP† by John Updike, the symbolism portrays the theme of the desire for change. The girls’ immodesty is a symbol of rebellion, revealing the theme of the desire for change. As Sammy acknowledges in the short story, the story takes place â€Å"north of Boston† (Updike 360). The estimated time period is the 1960s. At this time, most of the younger generation longed for change, whichRead MoreA P, By John Updike1019 Words   |  5 Pagespsychoanalytical lens can be used to analyze AP, a short story by John Updike, lone, a piece of art by John William Godward, and â€Å"To My Best Friend - Short Film†. Through this lens, readers can draw the theme that all humans have basic instincts and urges that lie in the unconscious mind. Throughout Updike’s AP, it stands clear that we are always being influenced by fundamental human desires. AP is told from the perspective of Sammy, a teenage cashier at AP. In the beginning of the story, three teenageRead MoreA P By John Updike843 Words   |  4 Pageshelp establish the uniqueness of his or her use of speech through the story’s title, structure, punctuation, setting and the communication between characters. In the story A P by John Updike, the author sets the story in a very ordinary place where everyday people go shopping for their groceries, in a market known as A P. Updike’s style within the story shows many aspects of ordinary life. For example, in the first sentence of the story, the narrator Sammy uses incorrectly the word walks, â€Å"InRead MoreA P By John Updike1441 Words   |  6 PagesJohn Updike is considered one of the greatest writers in modern American history. He is known for the idea that seemingly ordinary aspects of American life are actually quite fascinating. He wanted readers to see the beauty and magic of life, so he tried to describe everyday things using the most clear but beautiful language possible. Many of Updike’s pieces are drawn from his own life such as his marriage and his boyhood, as shown in three of his short stories: â€Å"AP†, â€Å"Ace in the Hole†, and â€Å"PigeonRead MoreA P By John Updike765 Words   |   4 PagesJohn Updike wrote, â€Å"A P† in 1961. In this era of the 1950s and early 1960s, conservative dress mirrored conservative social values. Conformity was the measure of popularity as well as a measure of moral rightness. During this time, people were more afraid of being labeled outsiders than they were afraid of the outsiders themselves (â€Å"A P†). Gender issues and the emergence of feminist consciousness are represented when Lengel states the rules that proclaim the girls are decently dressed-codingRead MoreAP by John Updike512 Words   |  2 Pages â€Å"AP† by John Updike is a story about a boy who learns that all actions have consequences. In â€Å"AP† three girls walk in to the store AP in nothing but their bathing suits. Sammy one of the stores cashiers describes what the girls are wearing and what they do throughout the story. The girls walk up and down the aisles catching the attention of many of the other customers. The girls then get in line at Sammy’s checkout, the manager Lengel walks up and tells the girls they will have to leave thisRead MoreA P By John Updike1033 Words   |  5 Pageshow we face these decisions will have an impact in our lives, and sometimes the ones that seem to be small are the most important ones. John Updike understood how making decision affects people’s life, and he develops it in his short story â€Å"A P,† which is the story of an unhappy boy who quits his job for a pretty girl. In order to develop this theme, John Updike takes Sammy, the main charac ter of the story, through three different stages. In the beginning stage, Sammy is just a boy who is not happy