Power Structure In John Updike's A & P

1260 Words6 Pages
Power Structure is looked at as people that have different amounts of power based on their position in society. This is very apparent in A&P from beginning to end. From the moment that Sammy is distracted by the girls, he classified one as “the queen.” He talks about her as if she controls the other two girls. “You got the idea that she talked the other two into coming in here with her, and now she was showing them how to do it, walk slow and hold yourself straight.” (Updike, p. 441) Little hints such as “she didn’t look around her” (Updike, p. 441) and Sammy’s primary focus on her infer that the queen was self-absorbed. She always conducted the girls from the moment they walked into the store, walked to Sammy’s cashier, and left the store. The power…show more content…
The main objective would be to earn a profit, and social mobility allows one to earn more and more profit and ultimately move up in class. This story shows social mobility mainly through the store staff. Stokesie would like to think that he would be promoted and become become store manager one day, meaning if he works hard enough he will get there. Also, another example of social mobility, or lack of, is present when Sammy quits his cashier job. When the store manager Lengel tells Sammy that he will “feel this for the rest of his life” he is saying that Sammy will regret quitting because he no longer has the ability to move up on the social ladder. The social ladder presents immense conflict, which can be associated with reality. The common conflict is that the rich don’t necessarily work harder than the poor, yet they still maintain a better lifestyle. Some poor people work so hard and don’t get what they deserve. This is displayed within Lengel, Sammy, and Stokesie. Sammy and Stokesie work much harder than the store manager, but Lengel has more power. It is an example of the higher class not deserving the power and recognition that they normally
Show More
Related

  • A & P John Updike Analysis

    1086 Words  | 5 Pages

    English 11 Period 6A Mrs. Jacobs 16 December 2015 Feminism in Updike’s A&P Feminist criticism is able to be applied to John Updike’s “A&P” because of the demeaning and derogatory language used to describe and talk to the female characters in the short story. The problems many women faced during the times of male - dominated societies were simple, everyday things that women wanted and earned the right to do. In Updike’s “A&P,” the language used in the dialogue and thoughts of the characters

    Read More

  • John Updike's A & P

    846 Words  | 4 Pages

    A&P by John Updike is a short story with so much description. With its metaphors and masked sexual tones, the story is capable of so many perspectives in terms of literary analysis. Since it contains a lot of descriptive patriotism towards females, many critics analyze it using a biographical, cultural or gender approach. Also, many critics think of it as an adolescent shift towards adulthood, which all isn’t necessarily false. However, after several readings of it, it is apparent that John Updike’s

    Read More

More about Power Structure In John Updike's A & P

Open Document