“A&P”: Conformity Can Be Found in Aisle Eight

Through setting, John Updike grips society’s post-WWII suburban values, and squeezes them through a grinder—dripping its sour underbelly of phoniness. Updike’s use of physical and historical settings assists in the creation of conflict, the building of plot, and – in the end – a complete, dynamic character that refuses the call of conventionality.

In “A&P,” Updike uses the physical setting of the store to showcase Sammy’s restless aversion to working there. The supermarket presents Sammy’s identity and individuality with limits. There are boundaries to his imagination – Sammy is inside, and he cannot leave until his shift is over. The environment is so confining that Sammy can’t even leave his post at the register, and is restricted to a few square feet of space. Updike takes the dreariness of the physical setting and injects them into Sammy, which in return offers the reader his mood, “The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle,” and “usual traffic” (221) . Sammy reflects on those around him, and inner conflict builds.

Updike’s use of the historical setting helps in the overall plot development of both Sammy’s character and the story itself. In the very first sentence, “In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits,” (220), the reader suspects that a line might have been crossed – socially – in the sand. Our suspicions are confirmed when Updike whispers to us a few paragraphs later with the cultural conventions of the town, “...our town is five miles from the beach...and our women generally put on a shirt or shorts or something before they get out of the car into the street” (221). The moment the girls enter the store they are the subjects of indirect scrutiny (Sammy noting every feature on their bodies), and direct scrutiny by Lengel. Lengel remarks, “But this isn’t the beach” (222), and then later to Sammy, “It was they who were embarrassing us” (223). This strict convention – predicated on the town’s cultural values – influences the characters’ actions.

In the end, it is Sammy’s environment that motivates him for a change in scenery, and a realization that the world is a lot harder than he thought.