John Updikes A&P Essay -- English Literature

John Updike's A&P Many of the events that take place in John Updike's "A&P" would not have happened had the town lived under a Marxist society. Marxism is a socio-economic ideal where all people work for the good of the community and is characterized by not having any social class distinctions. The division of Classes in "A&P" is very apparent, especially between Sammy, the protagonist and first person narrator, and the three girls, one of the three antagonists, who walk into the store during the exposition. There is also a cast disparity between Sammy and Lengel, the store manager and another antagonist (along with society, who complete the three). A distinction is also noticeable between the three girls and the rest of the shoppers in the convenience store. The story is told entirely in flashback and is set in a grocery store in a town north of Boston, Massachusetts during one Thursday in summer. During the exposition we learn that Sammy is working one of the cash registers. Later in the story we are told that he is 19 years old and by his description of how his parents treat company we can assume he comes from a middle class family. We are lead to believe during Sammys narration that the three girls, on the other hand, come from a rich or high societal background. The way Queenie is described by Sammy as having prima-donna legs and walking slow while holding herself straight paints a portrait of a high society woman. The fact that Sammy calls her prim twice also leads us in that direction. Sammy looks up to Queenie because she is different and places her on a higher level than the "sheep" in the store. When Sammy quits his job, creating a conflict between he and Lengel, his motive is to become the .. ...ls us she was embarrassed by the whole situation-where she felt out of place because of her high stature in society. These scenes, of course, would never have taken place in Marxist cultures because the government would have provided for it's citizens and the girls would have never found themselves being humiliated in front of a lesser class of people. All the conflicts that take place in Updike's "A&P" would have been avoided in a Marxist society. Lengel and Sammy would have never had a confrontation because Sammy would not have been trying to impress a high society girl. Likewise, the three girls would not have found themselves shopping for a snack in the A&P because the government would have provided it for them. This leaves us with one question, however, In a Marxist society, would Sammy have realized his adulthood or would he have remained a child?