Goodness Gracious

There are many passages where John Updike conveys wonder in his physical descriptions in "A&P". Sammy, the narrator, describes one of the young ladies as having a "good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it.(224)" He also uses the terms "chubby berry faces(225)" and "long white prima-donna legs.(225)" The girl called queenie is wearing a swim suit with the should straps down and he describes what he sees as "this clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the should bones like the dented sheet of metal tilted in the light. I mean it was more than pretty.(225)" He doesn't stop here. As the story progresses he has more colorful descriptions of the girls physical features. He speaks of "the plump one in plaid, that I liked better from the back--a really sweet can--(227)" One of the girls pulls money out of her swimsuit, as he describes as "having come from between the two smoothest scoops of vanilla(228)."
In this day and age, the way women and girls are portrayed on television and in movies is in such a sexual light that I feel Sammy could get away with his take on the girls physical appearances. He never speaks of wanting to do anything physically to the girls and his comments seem to be very normal for a boy his age. He could have observed the same girls in the same outfits and made some very crass and demeaning comments, as many boys or men might, and this would have changed completely how i viewed Sammy. However, he is a normal boy with normal interests and he handles himself much better than some would in his situation. The passages are very descriptive but not overboard.