John Updike's "A&P" Living in a society in which one must abide by rules and regulations is fairly common nowadays. Without such standards and policies, things would not function properly and would be in a constant state of corruption and disorder. There comes a moment, however, when these policies are broken and necessary action must be taken to ensure it does not happen again. In John Updike’s “A&P,” one can see why policy is sometimes necessary and the consequences one must face for not abiding by them. He clearly expresses this belief that policy is sometimes necessary through the setting and characters of “A&P.” The story was written around 1960, a time where people were fa