In John Updike's short story, "A & P," the protagonist, Sammy, experiences a sudden revelation while working at the local grocery store. At first this is triggered by a group of young, adolescent girls who are definitely not locals. Ultimately though, the setting of the small, suburban town is what drives him to eventually quit his mediocre job at the A & P.
             Part of the setting includes the locals that do their daily shopping at the A & P. They are representative of what Sammy has to deal with on a regular basis. For instance, the "cash-register-watcher"(606) threw a fit at a minor mistake made by Sammy as he rung up her groceries. Meanwhile, the girls had already begun to catch his attention. Distracted, it becomes difficult for him to concentrate on anything else surrounding him. Their presence was made more noticeable by "the sheep pushing their carts down the aisle."(607) These "houseslaves" (as Sammy refers to them) could not believe that these girls, "in nothing but bathing suits,"(606) had the nerve to disrupt the usually boring surroundings of the A & P. He continues to point out how the women in his town "generally put on a shirt or shorts or something before they get out of the car into the street."(608) He describes them as careless because they are not bothered by their "varicose veins" and "six children." By generalizing that all the women who come in and out of the A & P with these descriptions, Updike emphasizes the town's lack of excitement. Furthermore, his dislike for the townspeople is evident when he calls the locals purchasing pineapple juice "bums," and wonders why they buy so much. Sammy's frustration with the locals is also summed up in the manager, Lengel, who hides "behind a door marked 'manager.'"(608) Updike describes him as "dreary" and as the type that "doesn't miss much."(609) All of Lengel's qualities summarize how the town in general hides behind certain preconceptions, blocking out what may be cons...