An Analysis of John Updike's A&P Essay

Before the girls enter the store, Sammy is unaware that the setting he is so judgmental of reflects his own life. Sammy feels that he is better than the rest of people at the A&P, referring to them as "sheep" and "house-slaves" because they never break from their daily routines. He also condescendingly talks about "whatever it is they[the

Sammy begins the story by describing the three girls in bathing suits who have walked into the A & P grocery store. The girl who catches his attention is a chunky girl in a plaid green two-piece swimsuit. As Sammy continues to observe the girls, his interest seems to focus only on the girl who leads the other two into the store. Sammy refers to the girl he likes as "Queenie",someone showing poise and leadership, while the other girls

There is a sudden change in Sammy's attitude toward the girls throughout the story. At first, Sammy and his friend's he work

Sammy, having heard enough of Lengel humiliating the girls, takes his heroic stand announcing that “he quit.” He even takes off his apron that had his name personally stitch on it and his bow tie. Another reason why Sammy quit the store probably gravitates toward Queenie and he may have wanted to talk to her, but Lengel ruined his chance by interfering. For example, Sammy said, "remembering how he made that pretty girl blush makes me so scrunchy inside I punched the No Sale tab.” He probably wanted to make Queenie blush by giving her compliments, but Lengel embarrassed her by making judgment due to her outfit and the situation definitely had an effect on Sammy since he punched the machine. Clearly, Sammy wanted the attention and was hoping the girls will give him some recognition for defending them, which became a lost cause and once he realized that his outburst didn’t attract the girls, his intentions changed. Sammy quit displaying that he’s becoming more independent as well as his transition to adulthood while at the same time defending the girls. It would also appear that he might’ve relied on his parents for some time. During the conversation between Sammy and Lengel before making his rash decision to quit, Lengel said, “Sammy, you don’t want to do this to your Mom and Dad,” implying that he will disappoint his parents if they quit because his parents are a friend of Lengel’s and they pretty much got Sammy the job at A&P. This shows that his parents’ efforts to get him the job would be a waste of time on

Sammy’s obsession with Queenie shows how Sammy doesn’t get much action. He is about a twenty year old guy who is obsessing over a 16 or 17-year-old girl. Sammy gives every single detail about Queenie; for example, he says, “She was the queen. She kind of led them, the other two peeking around and making their shoulders round. She didn’t look around, not this Queen, she just walked on slowly, on these white prima-donna legs.” About 80% of the story is dedicated to the description of Queenie.

To begin with, Sammy shows a rude attitude through the story. He indicates little regard for other people’s age or knowledge. To illustrate, Sammy asserts the old aged customer, who reprimands Sammy for scanning her item two times while he is gawking at the girls, is “a witch about fifty … [who] would have burned her over in Salem” (Updike 320). Sammy’s despise toward this old lady—in fact shoppers—is perceptible. Also, when Sammy quits A&P, he talks discourteously to his manager Lengel. The readers soom comes to discover that Lengel is a friend of Sammy’s parents. Lengel attempts persude Sammy from making his rash decision, pointing out that he does not want to do to this to his

Their wealth allows them to most likely live within a large city where the world moves much faster than in the rural regions and even in the suburbs. Whereas cities are always advancing in all aspects, the small communities, much like the one Sammy lives in, tend to hold onto tradition and more conservative values. The normal behavior for beach-goers in this small town is, as Updike so blatantly puts it, “the women generally put on a shirt or shorts or something before they get out of the car into the street.” (Lawn 401) The three girls are part of a new generation, one that is changing styles of fashion and lifestyle faster than ever before.

When Sammy sees the store manager, Lengel, embarrass the girls, not only does Sammy see the ability to look heroic in front of his three mystery girls, like an "unsuspected hero" (Updike 618), he also sees the ability to get out of his boring nine to five job. Partially, because he is only nineteen and very immature in the way he views the world, he may have thought the girls would find him heroic. However, as soon as he quits his job

The short story “A & P” by John Updike is about a young man’s decision to stand up for others or, in the other characters’ opinions, make a foolish decision by abandoning his responsibility. At first he believes his decision is the right thing, quitting his job for how the girls were being treated. Then when he gets outside of the store, he realizes the world he just left behind, regrets his decision, and begins to question his actions. He starts to overthink what the world has to offer him, making his worldview change from underrating to overrating. His “unsure of the world’s dangers” worldview in the beginning changes to overrating the dangers of the future ahead at the end of the story causing Sammy to change throughout “A & P”.

The first stage of the heroic quest of 'departure' begins with the hero's call to adventure. During this first stage, the person is poised at "the point in a person's life when they are first given notice that everything is going to change, whether they know it or not" ("Hero's Journey: Summary of Steps," MCLI, 1999). This occurs when Sammy sees the three girls walk into the grocery store. His life and his perceptions of his world as a 'local' in a small seaside town will never be the same, nor will his perceptions of himself as a sexual being. At the beginning of the story, Sammy is a shy, self-conscious cashier who is far more retiring than his fellow employee Stokesie. By the end of

Sammy is just a young teenager. However, this does little to faze him. When he sees three girls walk in that he is immediately

As Sammy being a growing teen, he is beginning to witness the lustful perspective of girls that he sees at the store. Sammy begins to visualize the girls, especially Queenie, with strong details to show how much he was attracted to them as shown when he says, “With the straps pushed off, there was nothing between the top of the suit and the top of her head except just her, this clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones like a dented sheet of metal tilted in the light.” (Updike 321). These strong descriptions begin the development of Sammy’s voluptuous teen years. As he develops, he begins to take a turn from being self-centered to becoming more defending towards himself and the girls from his coworkers just to show off how heroic he can

In “A&P,” John Updike uses Sammy’s point of view to demonstrate that he is not as altruistic and kind as he thinks he is in order to demonstrate that people frequently ignore their own faults to criticize others. At the beginning of the short story, Sammy proves to be a judgmental type of person. For instance, he describes one of Queenie’s friends as “the kind of girl other girls think is very ‘striking’ and ‘attractive’ but never quite makes it” (Updike). Because his inner thoughts betray him as one who cares too much about a person’s appearance, it comes as a surprise when he later criticizes his manager for saying that the three girls in bathing suits are too scantily clad. He does not even realize that he is to be blamed for the same type

The A&P where Sammy works represents a world where everything is simple and quiet. Each day would feel the same and the people in the store would tend to themselves and they would have to a certain set of rules that could not be broken. However, the three girls in bathing suits represent the kinds of people from a different world, a world where people are not afraid to challenge social norms. By reading how these girls carry themselves, “she [Queenie] came down a little hard on her heels [...] she was showing them how to do it, walk slow and hold yourself straight” (1) says a lot about their attitude and the world outside of the A&P. These girls are not afraid to go in a public store in nothing but their bathing suits, and once they were inside they were not shy or timid; they held their high with confidence and kept walking. Sammy too tried acting bold and courageous when he quit his job for the girls, however, “my [Sammy] stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (5). Sammy left his simple world in the A&P for a more unpredictable life, and he realizes how hard life is going to be, not because he is alone, but rather that he does not know how to live without rules. Towards the end of the short story, Updike was successful in depicting emotion to his readers, and with the use of

This shows that Sammy believes that Lengel was wrong and stands up for the girls. He also tried to find the girls to tell them what he did for them, but he never found them. Sammy's observations about others also show what kind of character Sammy