John Updike’s “A&P” is a popular and influential short story. “A&P” takes place during the early 1960’s in a small Massachusetts town north of Boston at a small town supermarket. The story focuses around Sammy, a nineteen year old cashier at the local A&P, and also the story’s narrator. The story looks at the differences between the individual versus the collective, youth and age, conservation versus liberalism, consumer culture, the working class versus the upper class and men versus women. The story contains a brief but very significant event for Sammy, when three teenage girls wearing nothing but bikinis walk into the grocery store where he works. It is when Lengel, Sammy’s manager, criticizes the girls for the way they are dressed that …show more content…
Sammy quits his job. But why does he quit his job one may ask. That is the question of the story. However, through careful analysis of the short story, the plot and characters involved that is what will be determined. Like previously mentioned, “A&P” is narrated by Sammy, and like many first person narrators he seems to be telling us the truth as he sees it.
But he has an unreliable perspective like many teenage narrators. Even though Sammy’s perspective is limited it does pave a path for some major growth on his part. It shows he is willing to think and act differently than the people around him. Part of the understanding of “A&P” comes from Sammy as the narrator. Throughout the story one could notice how Sammy skips back and forth between present and past tense. The story’s first sentence states,” In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits.” This beginning to the story is present tense, like Sammy is observing things as they happen. From then on though he switches between past and present tense, giving the reader the idea he has no idea what is to come. However somewhere in the middle of the story Sammy says “Now here comes the sad part […].” So Sammy does know how the story goes and he is telling, writing, or thinking about it sometime afterwards. We don’t know for sure though if Sammy has written the story down but given the following example the reader may think Sammy has written the story …show more content…
down. “I uncrease the bill, tenderly as you may imagine, it just having come from between the two smoothest scoops of vanilla I had ever know were there, and pass a half and a penny into her narrow pink palm, and nestle the herrings in a bag and twist its neck and hand it over, all the time thinking.” (pg. 323) This paragraph seems to be practiced, it makes it seem like it has been worked and written down into a flawless thought. This story shows various methods to focus on Sammy’s desire to break the mold and be free from what seems to be an inescapable day-in day-out predictable life. In “A&P” the serious issue is conformity. Although we could dispute that there is humor maintained throughout the short tale, specifically when Sammy refers to the store as a pinball machine and he was just waiting to see which “tunnel” the girls would shoot out of next. (Page 322). It is also combined with this feeling of anguish. All throughout the story we get the feeling Sammy is just not happy with where his life may go. It is a coming of age tale though, a transition from childhood to adulthood. Sammy is the typical teenage cashier working in a grocery store but as he observes the reactions to the bikini clothed girls, he begins to change. Sammy’s change to adulthood can be seen as he questions conformity. Conformity is symbolized everywhere in this short story. In the beginning Sammy’s daydreams are interrupted after first seeing the girls by a “witch” whose “feathers” he had to smooth. A woman, as Sammy says “if she had been born at the right time they would have burned her over in Salem” (pg. 320). We know that Sammy lives north of Boston, which is not too far from Salem, thus the reason he says “over in Salem”. This woman that Sammy says “would have burned over in Salem” represented the older generation who cannot and will not understand the youth, the “house-slaves in pin curlers”. The shoppers in A&P and the two girls with “Queenie” or the leader of the three teenage girls as Sammy called her, are known as “sheep” as Sammy refers to them. For Sammy, the “sheep” represent the people who just follow the herd. The people who are all indistinguishable from the other, who have the same routine day in and day out, they represent the most conformity. Sammy wants to make it clear that he is not like any other person in the story. He does not want to conform to society like the others around him. For instance, Sammy’s co-worker, Stokesie, he is just a few years older than Sammy and already married with two children. Stokesie’s big dream in life is to one day be the manager of the A&P. Sammy knows Stokesie won’t go anywhere in life and he wants more for himself. He knows he must make a change, he must take control of his life and where it goes or he will be headed down the same path as Stokesie. Sammy’s manager, Lengel, represents a life that is too far gone, a life that never went anywhere. He represents the conservative community, a person who conformed entirely based on society. The supermarket itself that Lengel manages represents the consumer culture. Where the “witches”, “sheep”, and “house-slaves in pin curlers” by HiHo crackers, and “Queenie” the leader of the bikini clad girls, buys fancy herring snacks. “Queenie” most importantly represents non-conformity. A life that is alluring and free and possible for Sammy on the outside, a life that seems pleasurable, yet unattainable to Sammy. When Sammy finally realizes how “sheepish” the shoppers really were is when he realized why the girls were like a breath of fresh air to him. They are different; they don’t follow any set path. They even go down the store aisles against the grain of traffic, or the opposite way the other shoppers are going. While observing the girls and the way their actions and their carefree attitudes are turning heads and getting looks, he begins to feel bad for them. He doesn’t want to be a part of a society or a community that discourages individuality. This is further supported during the checkout scene when Sammy makes a comment about the store policy and how the “kingpins” want it. After Lengel humiliates the three girls in the checkout line for not meeting what is his idea of “decent” attire for a grocery store, Sammy makes the leap.
He quits his job. Even though Lengel tries to discourage Sammy and talk him out of it by saying, “Sammy, you don’t want to do this to your mom and dad.” Because Sammy’s parents got Sammy that clerk job at the A&P, he knows it will affect his parents. Sammy is taking the first step of leaving his adolescence behind, and this always has an effect on parents. It’s hard for any parent to let their kids go and grow into men and women. Sammy views quitting his job as a major step towards becoming an adult and not conforming to his surroundings. His quitting is his escape. “A&P” ends outside the supermarket in the parking lot. Sammy has just quit his job to take a stand against store policies everywhere, or more specifically he has quit to take a stand against conformity. The short story ends on more of a sad note versus the upbeat beginning. For instance, Sammy is now outside of the supermarket looking in. Though he walked out on his own free will, it has to be upsetting to no longer be a part of something he was just a few moment ago. What may contribute most to the storys sad ending is the observation of Lengel in the storys last
sentence. “His face was dark grey and his back stiff, as if he’d just had an injection of iron, and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter.” (pg. 324) This sentence can be explained many different ways. The one way I think most people can relate to is the way Sammy is feeling. The chilling fear that such pleasure, such as quitting a job, could have great and long-term consequences. My thought on the main theme of the story is the idea of maturing, being self-sufficient, making choices on our own and being accountable for the repercussions. The time in life where we can’t follow people and conform to what they would like us to do, and for that reason being decisive and a little selfish, is the idea integrated into Sammy’s life where he revolts and avoids being trapped by his parents and grows more independent and grown-up.
The main character in John Updike's short story “A&P” is Sammy. The story's first-person context gives the reader a unique insight toward the main character's own feelings and choices, as well as the reasons for the choices. The reader is allowed to closely observe Sammy's observations and first impressions of the three girls who come to the grocery store on a summer afternoon in the early 1960s. In order to understand this short story, one must first recognize the social climate of the era, the age of the main character, and the temptation this individual faces.
In, “A&P,” Updike depicts an unusual day for Sammy working in the A&P store. Sammy’s days are usually mundane but his day is changed when a group of scantily dressed girls walk into the store and they leave an everlasting influence on his life. Updike’s demonstrates these events through colloquial language and symbolism, allowing the reader to connect with Sammy and see his growth as a character.
Sammy is a 19-year-old boy conveying a cocky but cute male attitude. He describes three girls entering the A & P, setting the tone of the story. "In walk these three girls in nothing but bathing suits. 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...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 righ...
He criticizes his family and their background when he says, “when my parents have somebody over they get lemonade and if it’s a real racy affair, Schlitz in tall glasses with ‘They’ll do it every time’ cartoons stenciled on.” Sammy desires to move from a blue collar to a white collar family to differentiate him from his family. He shows his growing maturity when he says, “the girls who’d blame them, are in a hurry to get out, so I say ‘I quit’ to Lengal quick enough for them to hear, hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero.” He wants to be noticed by the girls for his selfless act of quitting his job for them. His plan does not work though, and the girls leave him to face Lengal alone. Lengal confronts Sammy and says, “Sammy, you don’t want to do this to your mom and dad.” Sammy ponders Lengal’s comment and thinks to himself, “It’s true, I don’t. But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture it’s fatal not to go through with it.” Sammy has begun to reach maturity and now wants to make his own decisions concerning his future and how he spends
...s that Sammy is taking a stand and that Lengel cannot change his mind about quitting. When Sammy left the store, the girls where long gone. "His face was dark gray and his back stiff, as if he's just had an injection of iron, and my stomach kind of felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter." This quote illustrates that Sammy knows that his parents will not like the fact that he quit, but he realizes that he has to take charge with his life, and make his own chooses without being afraid of what his parents would think. He is very happy that he had taken a stand, and he let no one change it.
At first glance, Sammy, the first-person narrator of John Updike's "A & P," would seem to present us with a simple and plausible explanation as to why he quits his job at the grocery store mentioned in the title: he is standing up for the girls that his boss, Lengel, has insulted. He even tries to sell us on this explanation by mentioning how the girls' embarrassment at the hands of the manager makes him feel "scrunchy" inside and by referring to himself as their "unsuspected hero" after he goes through with his "gesture." Upon closer examination, though, it does not seem plausible that Sammy would have quit in defense of girls whom he quite evidently despises, despite the lustful desires they invoke, and that more likely explanations of his action lie in his boredom with his menial job and his desire to rebel against his parents.
Now that Sammy has chosen to become a juvenile delinquent, he realizes "how hard the world was going to be" for him in the future. He has left a life of safety and direction for one of the complete opposite, and he must be willing to accept the responsibilities of his actions, no matter the consequences.
The story unfolds when, “Lengel, the store’s manager” (2191) confronts the girls because they are dressed inappropriately. To Sammy, it is a moment of embarrassment and in defiance he quits his job. The student suggests that in quitting, “Sammy challenges social inequality and is a person who is trying to
He leaves, with a clean consciousness, but the burden of not knowing what the future has in store. This story represents a coming-of-age for Sammy. Though it takes place over the period of a few minutes, it represents a much larger process of maturation. From the time the girls enter the grocery store, to the moment they leave, you can see changes in Sammy. At first, he sees only the physicality of the girls: how they look and what they wear, seem to be his only observations.
John Updike’s “A&P” is a short story about a nineteen year old boy during the 1960’s that has a summer job at the local A&P grocery. The main character in the story, Sammy, realizes that life isn’t always fair and that sometimes a person makes decisions that he will regret. Sammy sees that life doesn’t always go as planned when three young girls in bathing suits walk in and his manager Lengel gives them a hard time, and he comes to term with that sometimes you make bad decisions.
John Updike gives the reader an inside look into the adolescent mind of Sammy, which give the reader a better understanding of his personality. All of these literary devices enhance the meanings of the story's symbols as the boy's personality and view of his world move from content, to admiration, to resignation. Sammy, the first person narrator, plays an essential role in portraying an in depth viewpoint of the story. His portrayal of a typical teen working in a dead-end job, his thoughts and feelings are very obvious in the story "A & P."
The possible reasons for Sammy quitting his job are numerous: Sammy might have just used the treatment of the girls as an excuse, or maybe Lengel did actually upset him that much. It is possible that Sammy did initially quit to impress the girls and be their hero. Susan Uphaus says, "Sammy’s quitting has been described as the reflex of the still uncommitted, of the youth still capable of the grand gesture because he has
Sammy is no longer a child, but much of what he observes he describes as the play that he did as a child. The way he thinks can also be described as childlike play, in terms of his being disrespectful and needing to show off. Updike demonstrates, however, that Sammy desires to be thought of as an adult, and many of his references are to the type of play that adults might engage in. Sammy, like many adults, does not think in what is considered an adult manner, but Updike uses the plot's climax and conclusion to show that Sammy has learned a tough lesson that will speed up his transition into adulthood.
A reader can tell that Sammy likes the main girl that he gives the nickname “Queenie” to. He thinks that she is the leader of the girls and also that she is the prettiest. The way that Sammy thinks about these girls really puts the story into perspective. A person would think that a few girls going into a grocery store to grab some snacks is just a part of life, but to hear it in the words of Sammy, it seems quite fascinating. At one point a reader might think of Sammy as sexist, because in his own words, “You never know for sure how girls’ minds work (do you really think it’s a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?)[…] (370). All in all, this is just the way that Sammy’s’ mind works; it is how he thinks about people. This is what makes it be known that he a younger man not from the current
“Sammy wishes to quit, but he resists doing so because his parents would regard his decision as 'the sad part of the story'” (Thompson 215). Sammy points out that he thinks of quitting his job many times during the story, subtle as they are, he begins with the observation of quitting during the summer rather the winter and the part where he has mentioned “the sad part of the story” (Up...