At first glance, “A&P” written by John Updike, seems like a fun, slangy, juvenile story about a young nineteen-year-old boy, Sammy, who has the normal problems that accompany his age group; repugnance for his job, speaking dejectedly of the older generation and dreaming of the girls he sees in the shop. However, when people look at the history of the 1960s, they find that it shows a change in American social and moral values. Additionally, the revolution of multiple minority groups through the civil rights movement, such as women, gays, and African Americans, to name a few, who were at the forefront of issues during the 1960s. Furthermore, there was a revolt caused by distrust of politicians and the 1950s “family values” of rigid conservatism towards a more liberal outlook associated with the “hippie movement”. All of these hot topic culminations can be seen in several characters in John Updike's short story “A&P,” intentional or not. Furthermore, they represent different aspects of what America was going through at the time. To the dismay of a certain demographic of the population appalled at the direction the United States was taking, there were a growing number who wanted to return to the “Family”. Values” of the 1950s. No other person describes this "primitive and proper" image better than the Sunday school teacher, store manager, Mr. Lengel who scolds the three girls in the story (queenie, plaid, and big tall goony-goony) for their clothing while they were shopping in store. Furthermore, Mr. Lengel doesn't stop there and goes further by telling them that they will have to have their backs covered the next time they enter the store and that it is the company's policy to lose some luster... half of the paper.. ....-Goony. Tragic? YES! Hero? Not at all! The A&P story as told by John Updike as a whole is true to events that occurred in and around the 1960s. After all, the 1960s weren't called “tumultuous” by chance. During the decade they addressed many different types of issues related to political, social, racial and even radical movements. However, Sammy's decision to leave his job wasn't one of them. If it wasn't for Queenie and the others, it would have been some other excuse, because let's face it, she hated her job and was looking for a way out. However, once the sun hit his face, so did the reality of his actions. Only then did he see himself growing up with two choices in his path, the 50s or the 60s. Works Cited Brainy Quote. Xplore and Web. December 3, 2013.Mays, Kelly J. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 11th ed. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2013. Print.