John Updike and A&P

             Every day we go on with our usual routines, not often noticing our admirers, or certain passers-by. In life, there are many unsung heroes; most go unnoticed and also innocent and naive. These qualities are often taken for granted and abused. Innocence is not ignorance; however it lacks knowledge in the same manner. We are ignorant of our innocence until we realize that it has left us. It is based more on naivety or rather, the lack of experience we have. In John Updike's A&P the innocent of a young man's breakthrough in a local grocery store from his blindness of daily routines in order to shed some light onto part of reality that he has been missing. This loss of innocence, and being a part time hero is a realization of such a loss of wanting to be rebellious, Such as the main character Sammy in the short story A&P.
             Sammy had the same day-in, day-out job that many people before him had and many more will continue to have. The job was a way of life for him. He didn't like the work, but he needed the occasional and sparse paychecks. Throughout the course of Sammy's job at the A&P, he noticed and observed many different types of interesting people. One day, in the midst of Sammy's monotonous pounding of cash register keys at his check-out slot; his eyes wandered off and gazed at three striking young girls that walked into the A&P. These three girls walk into A&P like if they were the Bee's knees wearing only bathing suits and immediately catching the eye of a young, nineteen year old named Sammy. The girls and Sammy are innocent yet in different ways. The girls seemed to be different to Sammy as they looked and acted as though they did not live in his town. The girls were ignorant of Sammy's local culture as they seemingly had spent the day at the beach, and had not lived in his town nor spent much time in it at all.
             "The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two pieces. She was a chunk...

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John Updike and A&P. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 09:46, April 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/204825.html