With a seemingly benign title, "A & P", John Updike subtly acknowledges the eternal malignant struggle between antagonist and protagonist. In this short story, Updike introduces the reader to a small New England town, its citizens, and the A & P supermarket, all of which combined represent the antagonistic nature of oppression, closed-mindedness, abuse of authority, and a community morality that holds tradition in higher respect than civility. Conversely, Sammy, the protagonist, comes across as levelheaded and chivalrous.
             The three girls in bathing suits, Queenie, Plaid, and Big Tall Goony-Goony, are merely the setting upon which this story is sketched. They are described as though they were individual trees among a forest of cloned pines. They serve to provide the story with a backdrop, a crisis (damsel in distress), and a catalyst to bring about the eventual denouement between the antagonist and protagonist.
             Though no name is given for the small New England town, its proximity to Salem, notorious for the witch trials of the 17th century, and the fact that it is "north of Boston," evokes the sense of Puritanical values and conservatism associated with that area. Coupled together, this creates an atmosphere of oppression and unquestioning obedience of authority. This is clearly evident in the citizenry of the town. The "witch" who has "been watching cash registers for fifty years" manages a "snort in passing" after the protagonist, Sammy, accidentally rings up a box of HiHo crackers more than once. Truly decent people would let such things pass but the holier-than-thou attitude prevalent in this society marches to the forefront because of her verbal remonstration.
             Lengel, the manager of the A & P, wastes no time upon reentering the store in chiding the evil half-naked rule breakers. "Girls, this isn't the beach," he tells them not once, but twice, hoping that their sins would be washed away by this second exclamation. He furth...