A&P by John Updike is a short story about three girls and the voyeur cashier Sammy at A&P market. The story is told from Sammy's perspective as he watches the girls enter the store and peruses the aisles. Sammy speculates about what the girls are thinking about, what their personalities might be like, and even why they are shopping in bathing suits. A&P gives us a view into the societal norms of that time. A&P is narrated by Sammy, a nineteen-year-old cashier at the third checkout. It is his voice that is heard throughout the story. His language is very descriptive, but laidback. He uses what is considered casual language using terms such as "kind of", "You know", and "Really" in his sentences. Sammy, as a nineteen-year-old is easily distracted …show more content…
by the overt sexual display of Queenie and the two girls. He spends a good amount of the story describing the girls in a provocative voice. "with a good tan, and a sweet broad can with those two crescents of shite just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs." and "she lifts a folded dollar out of the hollow at the center of her nubbled pink top…I uncrease the bill, tenderly as you imagine it just having come from between the two smoothest scoops of vanilla I had ever known were there". He is even so distracted that he makes a mistake, " I know it made her day to trip me up". Sammy even describes what he thinks might be the girls' motivation for coming into the store "You never know for sure how a girls' minds work…but you got the idea she had talked the other two into coming in with her, and now she was showing them how to do it, walk slow and hold yourself straight." A&P takes place in a small New England town during the 1960's when appropriate clothing was deemed important by adults, and these social norms were beginning to be flouted by the youth.
In A&P the three girls enter A&P wearing nothing but bathing suits, this is in stark contrast to the clothing the other customers are wearing. "The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two piece." and "She had on a kind of dirty pink…beige maybe, I don't know-bathing suit with a little nubble all over it and, what got me, the straps were down." Illustrates the provocative nature of the girls dress especially considering they are in a grocery store in the middle of a town, miles from the nearest beach. Sammy makes reference to how "women generally put on a shirt or shorts or something before they get out of the car into the street. And anyway these are usually women with six children and varicose veins mapping their legs", which is a much more conservative and drab lifestyle. The three girls are intentionally trying to catch the eye of people around them, and in true 1960's youth style is going against the expected norms of society. This is very appealing to Sammy who is stuck wearing a uniform of a bowtie and apron with a "white shirt that my mother ironed the night before". Sammy looks at the girls as a way to break away from the conformity that has taken over his life. The bathing suits become a symbol in the story of the girl's disregard for the social mores of …show more content…
small town New England. Another theme would be Sammy as the blue-collar worker and Queenie as the uptown girl.
Sammy as a cashier would be considered a blue-collar worker with a lower socio-economic status than the girl vacationing in the town in Massachusetts. Updike indicated Sammy's lower-class status and his thoughts of Queenie as upper class through a variety of statements throughout the story. First, he mentions "She was the queen", and then how she "walked straight on slowly, on these long white prima donna legs". These are just some of his initial impressions of Queenie and the difference he sees between himself and her. The most obvious differences comes when Sammy is talking about the party she must have been buying the Kingfish Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream for. "All of a sudden I slid right down her voice into her living room. Her father and the other men were standing around in ice cream coats and bow ties and the women were in sandals picking up herring snacks on toothpicks off a big plate and they were all holding drinks the color of water with olives and sprigs of mint in them." in stark contrast to what he envisioned a party with his parents "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 is dreaming of being that backstreet guy, much like Billy Joel looking for his own uptown girl to take him away to new and exciting
places. Lastly, Sammy as the hero is the final theme. Sammy ends the story by quitting his job because of how poorly Lengel treats the girls in the store. "So I say "I quit" to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they'll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero." He is hoping that the girls wait for him, as he just quit his job because of the perceived injustice towards them. He honestly just wants the girls to notice him, admire, and maybe give him their phone numbers. Although the girls have hurried from the store, Sammy feels that it is important that he finishes what he started and quits regardless of the consequences because "once you begin a gesture it's fatal not to go through with it". He is the unnoticed hero, the girls were gone, and no one recognizes his heroism. A&P is a short story of the disregard social norms by the youth in the 1960's. It is also a commentary about changing views of what is and is not decent and acceptable. The sexual nature mimics the culture that became prevalent in the 1960's and shows the counter-culture that was developing during that time frame. Queenie and Sammy show the difference between the classes, and even how that small town guy tried to stand up and do what's right, even if it was to impress a girl.
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.
In his short story "A & P" John Updike utilizes a 19-year-old adolescent to show us how a boy gets one step closer to adulthood. Sammy, an A & P checkout clerk, talks to the reader with blunt first person observations setting the tone of the story from the outset. The setting of the story shows us Sammy's position in life and where he really wants to be. Through the characterization of Sammy, Updike employs a simple heroic gesture to teach us that actions have consequences and we are responsible for our own actions.
During the progression of A&P, Sammy's words and action reflect his growth from an immature teenager to a person who takes a stand for what he believes is wrong.
John Updike's short story "A&P" is about a teenager who has to make a serious decision. The story is set in an A&P supermarket in a town north of Boston, probably about the year 1960. As the plot unfolds, Sammy changes from being a thoughtless and sexist boy to being a young man who can make a decision, even though it might hurt him.
John Updike's "A&P" is about a boy named Sammy, who lives a simple life while working in a supermarket he seems to despise. As he is following his daily routine, three girls in bathing suits enter the store. The girls affect everyone's monotonous lives, especially Sammy's. Because the girls disrupt the routines of the store, Sammy becomes aware of his life and decides to change himself.
As the student develops his essay, Sammy begins to compare the girls to other customers in the store. From “houseslaves in pin curlers” to “an old party in baggy gray pants” (2192 ), Sammy negatively characterizes customers in contrast to the leader of the girls, Queenie. To Sammy, the girl is someone that is not from their town. She is everything that every girl envies and wants to be. In contrast to Sammy, she will spend her summer vacationing while he spends it working. It is clear to Sammy that their worlds are different, however it is also obvious that he would like to explore hers.
A & P takes place in a community inland that is sandy, yet near the coast. It starts out in the supermarket in which three girls in bathing suits walk in. One of these girls catches the eye of Sammy, which is working at the supermarket, Queenie. “The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece. She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs.” Sammy sees these girls and wants to be like them, free in a sense. As time goes on the girls finally get what they wanted and decided to check-out. They make there way to Sammy’s register where there comes Sammy’s manager, Lengel, to complain to the girls about their dress attire.
Sammy was obviously near the bottom of the class ladder, a place where he was extremely unhappy. His dead-end job at the grocery store, where lower class citizens are the prime patrons, was not a place he felt he belonged. He wanted to be a member of the family where the "father and the other men were standing around in ice-cream coats and bow ties and the women were in sandals picking up herring snacks on toothpicks off a big glass plate and they were all holding drinks the color of water with olives and sprigs of mint in them" (Updike 1028). Sammy realizes that Queenie comes from this sort of background, a very different one from his. When Queenie is being harassed by Lengel, Sammy sees that "she remembers her place, a place from which the crowd that runs the A & P must look pretty crummy" (Updike 1028). Queenie’s family was in the class that he envied, that he admired, that he wanted to become a part of.
Interpretation of A & P This story takes place in 1961, in a small New England town's A&P grocery store. Sammy, the narrator, is introduced as a grocery checker and an observer of the store's patrons. He finds himself fascinated by a particular group of girls. Just in from the beach and still in their bathing suits, they are a stark contrast, to the otherwise plain store interior.
John Updike writes “Oh Daddy,” Stokesie said beside me. “I feel so faint.” (432), at that moment Stokesie began to play around whit Sammy. Sammy responded “Darling,” I said. “Hold me tight.”(Updike, Pg.432), Stokesie and Sammy began to act foolish while being at work supports the fact that Sammy is still immature. Moreover, Updike reveals “The stores pretty empty, it being Thursday afternoon, so there was nothing much to do except lean on the register and wait for the girls to show up again” (433). The narrator is bored and has nothing to do, but wait for the girls to come back around. This is a perfect example of Sammy’s immatureness, for the reason that he could of have done something proactive while waiting on the next costumer. Another example that John Updike provides to demonstrate the narrator immatureness is when Sammy is checking out the three girls’ item. Updike writes “Still with that prim look she lifts a folded dollar bill out of the hollow at the center of her nubbled pink top. The jar went heavy in my hand. Really, I thought that was so cute” (433). The narrator shows his immatureness, by going into details over the location of the dollar bill. Also, by the fact that the narrator comments that he thought it was so cute, may symbolize that he has never been in a relationship before. Finally, Sammy shows his immatureness when he decides to quit his job, in order to catch the girls attention. Updike writes “so I say “I quit” to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero” (434). The narrator ignorance caused him to quit his job, in order to impress the girls. However, his attempt was a total failure the three girls disregard Sammy heroic
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’s “A&P”, is a short story that relates an episode in the life of a teenage (male) grocery store employee, circa 1961. Many critics suggest that this story is told through the eyes of the main character Sammy, and not through those of the author, John Updike. The label placed upon teenage males in modern society is often that of an über sexist that views the female entity in only sexual lights. This assessment is supported in Updike’s story by means of diction and paragraph structure. In addition Sammy’s rash reaction to his manager’s chastising of three girls in the store is a result of his longing for the young women, rather than in his own best interest. Throughout the short story “A&P”, Sammy exhibits the stereotypical role of the modern teenage male, however this should not be looked upon as abnormal or unacceptable behavior, but should be regarded as human nature.
The beginning of “A & P” starts with the main character, Sammy, at work when three girls in nothing but bathing suits walks in. According to Lawrence Dessner, the A & P check out counter showed Sammy a sample of insult and indignity of ordinary people (317). He may not have liked the people that shopped there, but he received insight of the real world. A woman that was currently at Sammy's counter was middle aged and brought Sammy no sympathy to the shoppers; he sometimes mention them as sheep. His names of the shoppers also include insight of Sammy's view of the ordinary shoppers; Sammy did not care much for others.
John Updike’s “A & P” (1961) explores the life of a nineteen-year-old boy Sammy who works at a small-town supermarket. The story is told in a first-person narrative by Sammy, taking place approximately between the late 1950’s and 60’s. The focus of the story is on the attitude and observations that the young teen Sammy has during his work shift. Sammy is from a middle-class family who is bored with his job at the grocery store. After observing his customers and referring to them as dehumanizing characters, he experiences seeing a young woman he names Queenie and her friends, which come inside the grocery store dress inappropriately in only their bathing suits. Sammy admires the leader of the group Queenie in the interest of
Sammy is generous in his descriptions of their bodies, and assigns value to their presence in his store. They are a representation of rebellion, of the casual disregard for social norms that Sammy is not familiar with. However, the girls did not walk into the grocery store with bathing suits and bare feet to show Sammy there is more to life than the green and white tile of the A&P, they are there to accomplish a task. Possibly, the girls could have been aware of how their attire might be received, but they “just came in for the one thing” (Updike 17). A task so unimportant to them that they did not bother to throw on shirts or shorts, because they knew they would be in and out of the store in less time than grabbing clothes would take. The girls didn’t exist to become Sammy’s revelation; they existed in the moment to buy herring snacks and resume their