Figurative Language In John Updike's A & P

In the short story “A&P”, John Updike uses similes, metaphors, and other figurative language in order to portray the narrator's opinion on women. He uses phrases such as “giving me hell”(Updike 1), “she was the Queen”(Updike 2), “buzz like a bee in a glass jar”(Updike 2), “shoulder bones like a denten sheet of metal”(Updike 2), “the sheep pushing their carts down the aisle”(Updike 2), and much more to describe the narrator's opinion on the people who go into the store. This insight into the narrator’s mind is a good tool to show his personality since the story is written in his point of view rather than third person or one of the girls.
Updike also wrote in an informal tone to make it seem less like a story and more like someone talking to

you about something that happened to them. An example is at the very beginning when he said “In walks these girls”(Updike 1). This makes it seem less formal which gives the narrator more personality. He also uses some elaborate, awkwardly structured sentences like “There was this chunky one, with the two-piece -- it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale so I guessed she just got it (the suit) -- there was this one, with one of those chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose, this one, and a tall one, with black hair that hadn’t quite frizzed right, and one of those sunburns 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 liked her so much -- and then the third one, that wasn’t quite so tall.”(Updike 1-2). The way Updike writes this story is less like a story and more like someone having a conversation. This technique shows the character's personality better than if it was more formal in third person.