John Updike A & P Summary

The story “A&P” by John Updike follows a day in the life of Sammy, a nineteen year-old boy, at his job at a convenience story. For a dull job, Sammy finds ways to entertain himself by thinking deeply and making judgments about the customers. He makes up elaborate stories about people who comment on how he does his job and is a little too observant when it comes to girls in swimsuits scanning the aisles. At the end of the story, he quits, but tries to convince the reader that it was a noble decision—he was doing it in the name of fairness. Sammy is shown as a judgmental, flippant boy who tries to accomplish getting the reader on his side when it comes to quitting his job through the use of metaphors, complex sentences, and rude diction.
Sammy

is shown thinking very detailed metaphors and scenarios about his customers, most likely to entertain himself during his dull work hours.

These metaphors are not necessarily the nicest thoughts, however, and they are triggered by minor events. After a customer calls him out on a mistake, Sammy describes her as a “witch about fifty” (220) and reduces her to a simple goal of “[tripping] him up” (220). He does not see his job as being very important, so any commentary on how he does it is met very defensively. Making up a detailed backstory about her just because she got angry that he double charged her is a tad dramatic. He is bored, and these literary devices are how he copes. After dealing with that customer, Sammy turns his attention back to the girls in swimsuits. They are more interesting than the checkout counter. How Sammy describes the girls reveals more of his judgmental nature. Paired with each description is some of his own commentary, subtly making fun of the girls, like when he said “you know, the kind of girl other girls think is ‘striking’ and ‘attractive’ but never quite makes it…which is why they like her so much” (221). By adding his commentary among the descriptions, the author creates solidifies a slightly sassy, but

definitely opinionated narrator. His thoughts are a back-handed compliment—the girl is just below a bar of expectation, but it is okay, her inadequacy makes other girls like her more. The placement of the quotation marks around the words “striking” and “attractive” create a sarcastic tone. The image of Sammy speaking to an audience and throwing up air quotes around the words is created, which adds to the flippant nature that is being showed. Through all of his descriptions of the girls, Sammy adds in one or two slightly negative words. None of the words are too harsh, but would offend someone if they heard themselves being described that way. He says one girl has a “chin that was too long” (220) and describes another’s neck as “stretched” (221). Again, he makes another backhanded compliment to that by adding “the longer her neck was, the more of her there was” (221). It is okay if her neck looks strained, because at least he can ogle more of her. His words carry a negative connotation, but they are not malicious—they are a result of a bored, judgmental person. He does not necessarily mean to be rude with his comments, but to him, being as detailed as possible with the descriptions of the people he sees is the only way to pass the time.
Sammy uses metaphors, complex sentences, and imagery to illustrate how mundane his job is and justify his decision to quit.

Sammy wants the reader to believe he had good reasons for quitting his job, even if he does not feel that way himself. To do this, he describes the customers watching his manager chastise the girls as “sheep, seeing a scene” (225). This comparison shows he does not have very much respect for the A&P-goers. He sees the patrons of the store as mindless creatures in a flock. If his customers are nothing but sheep, then quitting his job should not be a big deal—by describing them this way, he is trying to convince the reader that anyone can deal with them, and he should not have to. He does not like his job, or his manager, which is shown when he says “[t]he girls, and who’d blame them, are in a hurry to get out” (225)—he also is in a hurry to get out. He makes his decision to quit in this sentence after a variety of clauses, bringing on a feeling on nonchalance. He strings so many phrases in a row, and flatly says that he quits in the middle of them. This structure implies that he did not see quitting as such a big deal, as long as it was for a “noble” cause like sticking up for the girls his manager embarrassed. To reinforce the deed behind his decision, Sammy describes himself as an “unsuspected hero” (225). The image of a hero he is trying to create for himself should make quitting seem like the absolute best option. Despite his job being basic and

the people he has to deal with being unfavorable, ultimately, he is trying to make the point that he quit because it was the right thing to do.
The extravagant metaphors, negative diction, and dragging sentences that Sammy uses in “A&P” portray him as a slightly judgmental, flippant person and also contribute to how he accomplishes justifying quitting his job. The story opens with Sammy being distracted by girls in swimsuits, which causes him to make a mistake when ringing up a customer. She brings up this mistake, and that is where Sammy’s judgmental nature starts to unravel. He starts by calling her a witch, and then his story rolls into an elaborate story about her existence. After this, Sammy goes back to staring at the girls. His description of each girl is filled with his own commentary on their appearance, which skates on the mean side. However, he is not necessarily a malicious person—he is just bored. His job is unfulfilling and he views the people that come into the shop as nothing more than sheep—he wants to pass the time. His manager giving the girls in swimsuits grief causes him to come to a solution—quitting his job. The entire story, he threw in remarks about how his job was not the most exhilarating activity in the world, so in the end, he quits—that is not the exact reason he wants to boast, though. He would rather be looked at as a hero. All of this comes out in the word choice and literary devices used.