The literary genre of fiction is immense and incredibly diverse, yet it is unified by six fundamental elements. Deconstructing and analyzing each of these components yields a richer appreciation for the work explored. The fundamental elements of narrative are: plot, point of view, character, setting, symbol and theme. John Updike skillfully uses each of these aspects in his short story "A & P" to construct an absolutely unified and complex work of fiction. “A&P” chronicles the effect three girls have on the narrator, Sammy, when they enter the A&P center and challenge social norms by wearing nothing but bathing suits. Their bold performance, when met with reproach and condemnation, inspires Sammy to follow their example and reject his assigned place in society. Through analysis of the basic elements of fiction, the rich meaning that abounds in Updike's short story “A & P” is illuminated and clarified. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The author's use of plot focuses the reader's attention and provides a foundation for the remaining key aspects of the narrative. Using Freytag's Pyramid, plot can be deconstructed into stimulating force, exposition, complication, climax, reversal, and catastrophe. The triggering force is undoubtedly the arrival of the three girls at the A&P, where the narrator works as a cashier, because their entrance begins the rest of the action. A long exposition follows in which Sammy gives a detailed physical description of each girl. Her observations range from “black hair that wasn't quite frizzy” (409) to “long white prima donna legs” and “bare feet” (410). Scattered throughout these meticulous interpretations are snippets of dialogue and small observations that provide the reader with a clearer understanding of setting, point of view, and characterization. By slowing down the pace and focusing on the girls, Updike increases their importance in the reader's eyes. This primes the audience to see the girls as symbols in relation to the larger theme and causes the conflict to revolve around the girls' physical appearance. Complication, the third step of Freytag's Pyramid, introduces the story's conflict through the store's negative reaction to the girls' clothing. Since it is considered inappropriate to wear a bathing suit in the A&P, the girls are met with scandal from the customers, ridicule from the employees, and reprimands from the manager, which causes them great embarrassment. These complications gradually reach a climax where Sammy quits his job in protest. Up until this point Sammy has been a passive observer of the girls' rejection of social rules. By leaving his job he actively participates in the conflict for the first time, making this the point of greatest action. The loss of his job and place in society that Sammy suffers is the opposite. Catastrophe occurs soon after, when Sammy suddenly realizes “how hard the world would be for [him] from here on out” (414). This epiphany leaves readers with the grim realization that Sammy's decision to reject society's standards will have disastrous consequences on him for the rest of his life. A careful analysis of the girls and the clients, both as characters and symbols, reveals that this epiphany is a statement of the story's theme. Both the girls and the shoppers are flat and static characters. They do not change or show any complexity. While Sammy sees the girls as beautiful, young, and independent, he describes other clients as “house slaves” (411) or “bums.”(412). In one scene Sammy observes “the sheep pushing their carts down the corridor” and the girls “walking against the usual traffic” (410). Sammy repeatedly uses “sheep” or “pigs” (413) as metaphors for clients to illustrate their passivity and conformity. Instead, girls flaunt their individuality by walking in the opposite direction and wearing clothes that make other shoppers “jump, jump, or sob” (410). By creating such a dramatic contrast between these two groups of static characters, Updike casts the girls as an obstacle to the rest of the buyers. While the buyers represent the symbol of society and passive submission to the status quo, the girls represent the authentic freedom and life that comes from individual autonomy. The way they are treated by the other characters describes the theme Sammy realizes in his epiphany, that those who rebel against accepted social standards will be rejected by society. Updike highlights girls as symbols of oppressed individuality by placing them in a scenario of patriarchal authority and mindless submission. Two aspects of the setting that represent these concepts are the Congregational Church and the A&P itself. The A&P store, around which the entire narrative revolves, represents corporate ambition and marketing, as well as American culture as a whole. Sammy dismisses products of popular culture, such as the music of "The Caribbean Six or Tony Martin Sings," as "gunk" (411) and constantly loses sight of the girls among the large amounts of inventory, as when he notices the girls " they shuffle out of sight behind a pyramid of Diet Delight peaches” (411). These images illustrate the idea of ​​losing one's autonomy amidst a mass of advertising and media. The church, in contrast, represents passive submission and is a cultural symbol of authority. He is later embodied in Lengel, the manager, who “teaches Sunday school and everything” (412). While chastising them for their inappropriate attire, Lengel "focuses on giving the girls that sad Sunday school superintendent look" (412). The paternalistic ideas that he and the church represent are the very concepts that seek to confine and control girls' rebellion against accepted social values. The enforcement of these restrictive standards ultimately succeeds in symbolically banishing girls from society by kicking them out of the store. Through the use of narrative and point of view, Updike gathers each of the basic elements of “A & P” and ties them into a unified whole. Sammy, the narrator, serves as the sole point of view from which the reader experiences the story. His distinctive first-person voice pervades the narrative in the form of casual rhetoric and a strong sense of humor. The reader also sees the rising action from “Sammy's third box, with his back to the door” (409). The focus does not change until the reversal, when Sammy symbolically abandons his place in society by leaving A&P. These consistencies in voice and focus provide the narrative with a collective harmony that also envelops the characterization. Besides just being the narrator, Sammy is also the protagonist of the story. Unlike the other characters, he is both rounded and dynamic, undergoing change as he develops from a passive spectator to an active participant in the conflict against society. By presenting the story through the eyes of the dynamic protagonist, Updike allows the reader to participate in the journey from “sheep” to rebel. Through his transformation Sammy connects the laminae and bridges the gap between them. In this way, Sammy's character unites opposing forces and ultimately unifies the story. Updike's short story “A & P” is a complex web of fictional elements of, 2011. 409-14.