Tradition vs Modernity in A & P - Essay Example

Therefore, people have to conform. On the contrary, Sammy is a young man whose attitude, immaturity and conservativeness, make him an ideal representative of the rebellious youth of the sixties.

While it is logical that we need to conform to modernity and all its package, Sammy is one young man whose attitude towards fashion is still backward. The ladies are dressed fashionably in conformation with the modern trend. On the contrary, Sammy's attitude towards their kind of dressing considers them an embarrassment. Sammy finds this kind of dressing to be appropriate only when people visit the beach: "You know, it's one thing a girl in a bathing suit down on the beach…" (2). Well, people indeed used to put on decently in clothes that covered all their body-part long ago due to tradition. However, modernity has come with fashion and society has been forced to embrace this change. Sammy and a few young men like him are still living in the past and do not want to accept the change.

Sammy's actions seem very immature for his age. It is not normal in the modern world to find a young man destructed just by the way of dressing of young ladies. Young ladies in modern society are known to dress fashionably, especially when they go for outings, date, and even just stroll around. On the contrary, Sammy shows immaturity when he gets destructed by these ladies to an extent that he even forgets his duties and almost drops the jar on his hand: "The jar went heavy in my hands. Really, I thought that was so cute" (3).

Sammy is a clear example of those conservative, old-fashioned, and traditionally young men who only know that money should be carried in one's hands. The author shows how amazed Sammy is when he saw one of the ladies without any money in her hands and was wondering where the money was going to come from: "Now her hands are empty, not a ring or a bracelet, bare as God made them, and I wonder where the money's coming from" (3). This left Sammy wondering about where these ladies get their money from. It is only traditional to think that ladies are not meant to work for their money as it used to happen long ago. Sammy also shows his conservative behavior when he only considers ladies to be sex tools: "Darling, [Sammy] said. Hold me tight" (2).

In a nutshell, change is like the rest. Modernity comes with change that society has to embrace. However, just like in every market there must be a madman, every society must also have those who are against this change. Sammy represents this group of young men whose attitude, immaturity, and conservativeness still represent the men in the sixties. The young man lives in the modern society amidst those whom he considers embarrassing while, on the contrary, they just represent fashion as an agent of change.