In "A&P" by John Updike, Updike describes his past experience observing three young girls in the grocery store where he works and how they led him to adolescent rebellion. The story begins with a young Updike mindlessly scanning items and illustrates different types of people who shop at the A&P. He notes that three young girls from out of town come in wearing bathing suits and no shoes, and goes into detail about "the big one" and "Big Tall Goony-Goony." The narrator then notices the group's unofficial leader, whom he calls Queenie, and describes for a page and a half how attractive she is. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay We are introduced to the narrator's colleague, Stokesie, a married man who is three years older and expecting his second child. Updike watches the girls walk aimlessly around the store like a "pinball machine", before deciding to purchase a can of Kingfish Fancy Herring Snacks. Unfortunately, the girls are confronted by Lendel, the conservative Sunday school teacher/manager, and are scolded for their attire. Updike, upset by the way his manager is talking to the girls, decides he's fed up with the grocery store and leaves in a heroic gesture, only to realize that the girls were gone before they could notice his big exit. Updike's story concerns his past teenage rebellion; we are introduced to the idea that this event is a flashback of the narrator describing that his parents were saddened by his behavior, but "he doesn't think it's that sad." The author uses the characters Stoksie and Lendel to create an image of conformity. Stokesie “thinks he will become manager one sunny day” and has already started a family, while Lendel is the epitome of what this young 19-year-old wants to become. “Politics is what the bosses want” and Updike wants no part of it. The narrator juxtaposes the mundane environment of his co-workers at the supermarket with the bright new girls from out of town, especially Queenie. She is almost a goddess to him, as he follows her every move and describes every inch of her body, down to the “two softest vanilla balls” he called her breasts. In many ways, Updike's description of Queenie is sexist and exaggerated, even to the mind of a teenager. The author purposely makes the reader uncomfortable to show the rebellion he felt against the boring life he felt forced into. Out-of-town girls knew better than to walk into a grocery store "five miles from the beach" wearing bathing suits, no shoes, and a "look at me" attitude, and Updike envied their carefree attitude. While they were not the reason for his resignation, they became the straw that broke the camel's back. When Lendel began scolding the girls, the narrator was faced with an internal turmoil that made him question the future he had prepared for himself. He saw a future that didn't require the monotony of running a grocery store for the rest of his life and chose a different path, despite knowing "how hard the world would be for him from then on." it's just an example. Get a custom article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Updike's story, while provocative and slightly uncomfortable, details teenage rebellion and how it can alter and shape the rest of your life.