P Gryphon
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
Today there are things that may seem ethical but back a couple of decades ago were seen as outrageous, like wearing a swimsuit in the store, telling children about death, or what is right and what is wrong. In John Updike's "A&P" and Charles Baxter's "Gryphon" main characters struggle against rules, authority and the inflexible social system.
In "A&P" the main character Sammy a grocery store clerk thinks that his manager Lengel is treating Queenie and these girls unfairly by judging and giving them a piece of his mind telling them by what they wear is unacceptable. Sammy thinks that the way the girls were being treated was wrong and unjust. On the other hand Lengel the manager's perception on the issue was that the girls were underdressed, offended him, his strong moral values and maybe even his customers. In the story Lengel says that the store was not the beach and should be decent the next time the girls come in the store. Should he be the judge of what is appropriate and what is not? What Lengel does not understand is teenager or kids have a different point of view or perception from adults. What may seem immoral to him might be moral or practical to somebody else. Just because you think you are right that does not mean that you are...