For a Little Power

John Updike does a fabulous job of tapping into the caddy world of adolescent girls. For being of the male breed, he understands the trivial games that young girls generation after generation succumb to. His intense and sometimes too familiar accounts of these girls takes you right back to remembering “that girl” from grade school. John Updike’s description of one of the girls pin-points emotions that I myself have experienced, ”…you know, the kind of girl other girls think is very "striking" and "attractive" but never quite makes it, as they very well know, which is why they like her so much”. I now regard these feeling with far more caution because, with Updike’s assistance, I realize what a twisted yet common situation this is.
On the surface, John Updike seems to be solely concerned with the doings of these young girls; I believe that he uses them merely as a prop to get across his deeper message. John Updike’s description of these girls and his mental accounts of them seem superficial and intended merely for entertainment purposes, but his deeper message resonates. I think that there is an underlying message of authority and power. The owner of the store makes it his duty to inform the girls that they are dressed inappropriately and he shuns them for their poor choice in clothing. Weak men often will do anything to get power and this seems to be the case with the owner of the A&P store. He is asserting his authority of these girls because he knows that he can do so without confrontation. This ends up not being the case. The “queen” senses the owner’s insecurity and feels that she can make a rebuttal. She speaks for the girls that she is with. This is indicative of how she is the voice of her “group” in other situations. The tables are turned, and the queen is the one with the power. (324)