John Updike is a writer famous for his short stories, essays, poetry, reviews, articles, art criticism and plays. He was born on March 18, 1932 in Reading PA. After graduating from High School, Updike was accepted to Harvard University where he wrote for the Harvard Lampoon. But the thing that made him famous was the publication of his "rabbit" books, Rabbit Run, and Rabbit Rest. Updike also received two Pulitzer Prizes for these books. Another famous piece written by him is a novel called The Witches of Eastwick. In fact, the novel was so popular that it was made into a film in 1987. Most of Updike's works deal with "Protestant, middle class, contemporary American life and the roles that marriage, divorce and sexuality play in it" (Wilson 2). Updike is now 69 years old and still working on his writing.
             "A & P" is the short story of how Sammy, the protagonist, grows up and separates himself from the sheep like people of society and becomes a non conformist. This story has become very popular among young people and is standard reading for many high school and college students. Updike got the inspiration for "A & P" while driving past a local A & P market in Massachusetts. He asked himself why no one had written a story about it and then decided the he should be the one to do it. He proceeded to write based on a glimpse he had of some girls, who looked strikingly naked, shopping in the isles. "A & P" deals with Sammy's coming of age and "articulates a teenage boys sudden awareness of the split between his inner feeling and societies values" (A & P 319). "A & P" derives much of its impact from its setting, narrative style, and comic symbolism. In this story, there are also two main themes, which are choices and consequences and individuality. As Sammy tells his story, the reader sees how he rebels against community values and asserts his individuality.
             "A & P" takes place in the mid-1950's and early 60's. It ...