Power and John Updike's "A & P"

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A lot about life has to do with power and how it’s handled. Abraham Lincoln once said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” When people feel that they are powerful, or that they have attained a position that gives them power, they can use that to assert their beliefs onto others and to achieve what they desire. In the video, “The Story of Stuff,” we see the impact that the United States, being one of the most powerful countries in the world, has on the rest of the world. When the United States runs into issues, they calmly and collectively destroy every other country; whether this is done with placing factories overseas for cheap labor or to slow down pollution in the United States, it’s being done to place less harm in themselves, rather than thinking about everyone else. This can be done because of the amount of power the United States has over the other countries, and is a great example of how others use power, as well. John Updike’s “A & P” has a plotline that is focused around power. There are normal, every-day events that happen, like the cash-register-watcher that gives Sammy a hard time because he rang up her HiHo crackers twice, but the reason this specific day in the story was so important is the three teenage girls who walked into the store wearing nothing but their bathing suits. These girls walking into a conservative supermarket such as A & P shows not only a sign of rebellion, but shows a battle for power. Power and rebellion are concepts that pair very well, in that you cannot have rebellion without having someone in power who is making rules, or without someone who is powerful enough to challenge those rules. It is unclear what they want, per say, but, from the story, it can be speculated that they were refusing to let the men’s policies define what is or isn’t sexual about their wardrobe,
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