Wednesday, December 3, 2008
John Updike's "A&P"
Updike wrote "A&P" in the early sixties. A time when the hippie movement was gaining in popularity and the youth rebelled against "The Establishment". That is what the three girls in the bathing suits represent; they symbolize that rebellion. They break the norm in the conservative Mid-Western town by wearing bathing suits to the supermarket and "The Establishment" is quick to react in the form of a reprise by the store manager. The protagonist, our "checkout hero" joins "the cause" and quits his job, thus rejecting the values of his parents and 1950's American society. This is "The Revolution", Milwaukee style, and like everything they do in Milwaukee - it's rather boring and quite subdued.
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2 comments:
I can agree with you when you mention that this story is “the revolution”. At first, I was not able to tell which time setting this story took place in, but now it makes sense that this was at the time of the hippe movement. The girls were like rebels to society. Maybe, the reason why they are describe to have nothing but bathing suits on, was because they were “free” from this conservative society?
yes-- a lot to unpack, here, when you start to dig into story's details. The connection to youth rebellion of the 60s is a good one, and a significant though not the whole (conflict) of the story.
Why "Milwaukee"- style? Schlitz?
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