Possible Futures A&P by John Updike, takes place in a small conservative town in the 1960’s. The main character and narrator is an 18 year old named Sammy. As Sammy is working in the front of store, he notices three girls walk in wearing only their bathing suites. This would not have been unusual, however it is the 1960’s, a small town, and they are nowhere near a beach. He stares at the three girls, analyzing their movements and their possible motivations. Sammy takes notice of the most attractive girl, which he references as Queenie. He sees Queenie as beautiful, graceful and confident. The three girls walk around the isles of the store, drawing attention to themselves. As it is the 1960’s and in a small town nowhere near a beach …show more content…
Lengel the manager is “pretty dreary, teaches Sunday school and the rest, but he does not miss that much.”() Lengel begins to embarrass the girls for entering the store in such attire “Girls, this isn't the beach.”() “Girls, I don't want to argue with you. After this come in here with your shoulders covered. It's our policy.”(). Queene begins to defend the girls, explaining that her mother wanted her to come to A&P “My mother asked me to pick up a jar of herring snacks.”() Sammy overhearing Queene defending herself and mentioning the herring snacks, he begins to envision her parents being economically well off unlike his own family. While Lengel is arguing with the girls, the other customers have “been showing up with their carts but, you know, sheep, seeing a scene.” When the manager asks Sammy if he is done ringing up the girls, he answers no and then rings up the girls and says he quits. He is hoping that the girls hear his resignation, however the girls were in such a rush to leave they did not stay and they rushed out of the …show more content…
Sammy is clearly bored at his job, I go through the punches, 4, 9, GROC, TOT -- it's more complicated than you think, and after you do it often enough, it begins to make a little song, that you hear words to, in my case “Hello (bing) there, you (gung) hap-py pee-pul (splat)”-the splat being the drawer flying out. His job is boring, not stimulating or exciting just a repetitive routine. As mentioned earlier in the synopsis, Sammy also feels superior to his coworker Stokesie, he wants something better than just what Stokesie has. Stoksie’s character symbolizes one of the possible futures that Sammy can have however, he doesn't want. Lengel symbolizes another future that Sammy could have, Lengel is a manager, Sunday school teacher, and dry not the life that Sammy is envisioning for himself. Quennie represents the third possible future. When Quennie and the other girls enter A&P they cause a distraction. All the customers are going about their routine as sheep, they do not pay attention to anything else other than getting their groceries and leaving. When the customers see the girls instead of going through the motions and shopping they stop and they heard to see the spectacle. Quennie and the girls represent adventure and excitement, different from the other two possible futures. When the girls get to the register and the argument begins with Lengel and the girls, Sammy is at a crossroad. Lengel represents the
Firstly, setting plays a crucial part of the story because of where and when the story takes place. This story takes place around the 1950’s in the United States near Boston. In the story, it read “It's not as if we're on the Cape; we're north of Boston and there's people in this town haven't seen the ocean for twenty years.” (Updike) This quote demonstrates of why the locals in the town where so upset to see the three young girls wearing only their bathing suits in the supermarket. This also takes place in a much older generation that is not okay with people walking around with revealing clothing. That is why Sammy’s boss, Lengel was so upset with the
“In walks three girls in nothing but bathing suits”.(Updike 430) John Updike immediately introduces the 1962 short story “A & P” with a strong voice and an eye catching event. Updike continues the short story with partial sentences, word repetition, and tense shifts to bring excitement and life to the readers. A & P is the grocery store, located in a small New England town that tells the life of a typical 19 year old boy who is maturing into adulthood.Through the eyes of the narrator the readers are quickly introduced to three mouth drooling, beautiful, and confident teenage girls. As they casually stroll into the store looking for a specific item, they attract all the eyes of every man in the store; especially Sammy, the narrator. Updike demonstrates the power their desirability has over the men which causes a commotion at A & P. Despite the narrator 's final decision, Queenie and the other two girls are shown as the power of aspiration, his desirable future, and how women was seen during this time.
He verbally attacks the girls, saying "This isn't the beach... After this come in here with your shoulders covered. It's our policy." (336). Not only does he attack the girl's outward appearance, but he also attacks them emotionally. Lengel's actions cause everyone in the store to stop and stare at the girls, causing the half-naked trio to become somewhat uncomfortable with what they are wearing, embarrassing the girls beyond all shame. Lengel does not stop for one second to think that maybe these girls have more pride than they are outwardly expressing. He does not seem to care who the girls are, or what the girls can become, he simply stereotypes them into being nothing more than those of ill-repute. Even though Lengel has spent the entire morning "Haggling with a truck full of cabbages" (335), this is still no reason to "fly off" at the three girls for doing nothing more than representing the free-spirited, individualistic, andnon-conformists of the era.
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
The three girls in the story, Queenie and her two sidekicks flaunt their young bodies in very small bikini bathing suits in a small, conservative, town general store. Their “dirty-pink—beige…bathing suits with a little nubble all over it” (p371) is one of the very few examples of sexuality throughout this story.
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.
In a continuing attempt to reveal this societal conflict, Updike introduces the character of Lengel, the manager. He accosts the girls and starts to make a scene accusing them of being indecent: “‘Girls, I don’t want to argue with you. After this come in here with your shoulders covered. It’s our policy.’ He turns his back. That’s policy for you. Policy is what the kingpins want. What others want is juvenile delinquency” (Updike, 600). When the store manager confronts three girls in swimsuits because of their indecency (lack of proper clothes), they are forced to leave humiliated. At this moment Sammy makes the choice to quit his job in protest of the manager’s handling of the situation. In his mind, and arguably in John Updike’s mind, the standards of walking into a grocery store in a bathing suit and humiliating someone in front of other people are both unacceptable. This part of the story is pivotal for one main reason: a voice in the business community is speaking. As a manager at A & P, Lengel is the voice of The Establishment and guards the community ethics (Porter, 321). Queenie’s (the ringleader of the girls) blush is what moves Sammy to action. Here are three girls who came in from the beach to purchase only one thing, and this kingpin is embarrassing them in order to maintain an aura of morality, decency,
"So I say 'I quit' to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they'll stop and watch me." When Sammy quits his job, it is obvious he is doing out of envy for these girls. He mentions that he was hoping for the girls to stop and watch him but after he quits and walks out of the A&P grocery store, the girls are gone. "I look around for my girls, but they are gone, of course." Sammy's jealousy towards the girls has grown from their good looks to their parents parties to his quitting his job just so they notice him, which they
He can let Lengel’s criticism of Queenie and her friends go, therefore conforming to society’s standards, or he can voice his own opinions and become independent. He appears to come to his own conclusion on what to do when he reminds himself of Queenie’s reaction to Lengel. Updike writes, “but remembering how he made that pretty girl blush makes me so scrunchy inside I punch the No Sale tab and the machine whirs ‘pee-pul’ and the drawer splats out” (167). Sammy then realizes the magnitude of what he has done once he has left the store. Updike writes, “… and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (167). Sammy knows that now, since he has gone against the normalities of society, he will not be looked upon fondly by others around him. Although he may not be liked by all, he has become his own person with his own thoughts, marking his coming of age and transition to adulthood. The external conflict experienced by Sammy in “A&P” helped him transition from conformity to
Even though Sammy’s mindset is childlike, he still tries to portray himself in an adult manner. The reader can observe throughout the story the way in which Sammy thinks to be immature and quick to judge. Having his concentration only on the girls, he made a mistake while ringing up a customer. Because he is so focused on how the girls are dressed and what they are up to, he has full descriptions of each girl and thinks he has them all figured out. He points out the leader and even names her “Queenie” while not giving the other two as much attention. The reader can see how Sammy sort of mocks some of the customers when he sees Lengel “checking the sheep through” (Updike 435). Sammy’s priority, which should only be ringing up customers, but happens to be seeing what the girls are up
As the girls continue their journey throughout the store, Sammy can’t help but to notice anything and everything that they did. As they proceed, they grab fancy herring snacks and walk into Sammy’s checkout isle. Because they decided to go into Sammy’s lane might not have had anything to do with Sammy at all, however he took it as if he was chosen specifically because Queenie had some sort of attraction to him. Sammy instantly becomes emotionally attached to Queenie as he rings her up, even going so far that he fantasizes about the life he could have with her, and how much better his life would be with her in it. In the midst of Sammy’s daze, his boss, Lengel, emerges from his office to reprimand the group of girls for their attire. Lengel makes a scene, and publicly embarrasses the girls. As the girls scurry away to Queenie’s mother’s car, Sammy makes a desperate final attempt to impress Queenie by quitting his job and standing up for them. Lengel seemingly realizes what Sammy is trying to do, and offers him an out. Because of Lengel’s good relationship with Sammy’s parents, Lengel says, “Sammy, you don't want to do this to your Mom and Dad.” Although Sammy is given the opportunity to take back his foolish act, Sammy tells us, “But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture, it’s fatal not to go through with it.” This points to Sammy’s immaturity, his only
The article Johnathan Edwards and the Closing of the Table is based upon Edwards’ view of the practice of the Eucharist (Holy Communion). Crisp argues within hist article that Johnathan Edwards’ beliefs should be studied and “offer a challenge to contemporary theologians to think about these matters more organically (Crisp, 49).” Crisp gives an analysis of Johnathan Edwards’ beliefs on communion, the process, and the requirements to obtain communion. He states that Edwards’ believed that there had to be a confession of faith included with the communion service, and that only when they gave an outward piece of evidence that they were converted from their sins that they should and could obtain communion (Crisp, 55).
When Lengel sees the girls at the checkout counter, he says, “Girls, this isn’t the beach.” As the girls leave the in a hurry, Sammy says, “I quit.” Sammy hopes that the girls will hear, but they don’t and just keep on walking out to their car. Lengel reassures Sammy that he doesn’t want to quit, but Sammy wants to be these girls hero. As Sammy gets out to the parking lot, he looks around for the girls. He hoped that they would wait for him. Sammy thinks that he could hook-up with Queenie if he quits his job.
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
The intense interaction between Lengel and Queenie escalates into a small argument, resulting in Queenies embarrassment “Queenies blush is no sunburn now” (194). Lengel decides to end their interaction by restating policy, and communicating with Sammy that it is time to ring up their purchases. The opportunity for Sammy to act on his feelings has now arrived, the intense conversation, coupled with the numerous external cues regarding Queenie, has bombarded his thought process, and he has aggregated ever clear his intention to draw closer to her, and ultimately derives the motivation for the next two words he speaks, “I quit” (195). Sammy hopes that these brazen words will capture the attention and kinship of the girls, to form his ever so desired connection, “hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unsuspected