A & P By John Updike Point Of View Essay

In “A&P” by John Updike, the point of view is a crucial element because it gives the readers a better understanding of Sammy's thoughts, feeling and ideas. “A&P” is told in first person point of view which uses words like “I” and “me”. The narrator and main character Sammy, is a 19 year old boy who works as a cashier in a store called A&P. The audience is given information about him everytime he speaks or thinks something. For instance, when the three girls were walking around in A&P, Sammy give a detailed description of the first girl which makes the audience to to a conclusion. When the girls are towards Sammy, he tells the readers “and a tall one, with black hair that hadn’t quite frizzed right across under the eyes, and a chin that was too long-- 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”( 1 Updike).This show the readers how good Sammy’s observation skills are.

When Sammy makes this observation, the audience notices a character trait that emerges from Sammy. The readers learns about how attentive and witty his character is. When Sammy is exiting the store because of his quarrel with Lengel, he tell the audience “I look for the girls, but they are gone, of course. There wasn’t anybody but some young married screaming with her children about some candy they didn’t get by the door of a powder-blue Falcon Station Wagon.”(6 Updike).This is written in first person point of view which helps the reader see another one of Sammy emerging character traits. The readers get the chance to notice his need to do acts of goodness even when he knows about the consequences following. In this case the reward is the girls who disappeared and the consequence is Sammy loses his