A & P By John Updike Essay

In John Updike’s short story “A&P,” Sammy is the narrator and cashier at the grocery story A&P. The author uses dynamic characters with immensely different personalities to portray conformity and rebellion in our society. Through out the story Sammy challenges conformity and social norms at his work place for personal reasons. Sammy is very bitter character and taken as a realist which fuels the story. Queenie, a rebel against conformity, sparks Sammy’s emotions after the way she is treated by his boss Langel when she walks into the grocery store with nothing but a bikini covering her skin. The setting of the “A&P” takes place in the 1960s when women in America were deeply frowned upon for too much skin showing while dressed in their attire. The author used the grocery store A&P as his setting because almost all stores have a

Jon Updike’s story, A&P is about Sammy, a typical nineteen-year-old boy who works as a checkout clerk in the grocery store. On an average day on the job, Sammy makes the unexpected decision to quit. What led to his decision to walk away from his job? The story tells of three girls who come into the grocery store dressed only in bathing suits. They make their entrance into the store where Sammy carefully observes their every move. One of the reasons Sammy quits is he wants to impress the three scantily dressed girls. However, as the story continues there are more clues of why Sammy quits his job. A deep discontent has been building with Sammy long before the girls walk in the door. Sammy realizes how bored he is with his tedious job,

The theme of a story is a very important factor when depicting the impact the story has. Theme of a story is the comprehension of general message or idea that is conveyed throughout a literary work. As a story progresses the theme is often conveyed regularly and emerges in varied ways. Sometimes a story can have more than one theme portrayed within it. In the story “A&P” there is more than one theme present in the story. The theme in this story is developed by characters, point of view, setting, and symbolism.

In the short story A&P written by John Updike is written in the 1st person naïve point of view. A&P is considered 1st person naïve because the narrator is too young to be trusted. He also is telling us the story as he feels to be the truth. The main character of this story is Sammy and the author Updike chooses 1st person to Naïve because he wants to show the readers what Sammy is thinking from his point of view aka his emotions and reactions to certain situations. However, telling the story in 3rd person omniscient would give a bigger picture of what is happening not limiting them to the perspective of just Sammy but a view from all of the characters. By the reader every detail they would want to know.

The use of various and different archetypes such as the threshold guardian and the defiant anti-hero in “A&P” coveys John Updike’s changing perception of women and the values in today’s society. When the reader is first introduced to Sammy, they see him observing “three girls in nothing but bathing suits” and privately starts pointing out distinct physical features such as their “sweet broad soft-looking can” and how “the third one wasn’t so tall. She was the queen.” (Updike 1). Sammy is a very atypical person and doesn’t fall under society’s norm of a gentleman or one who shows any form of chivalry towards women.. He makes assumptions and prejudices about women before they can make a first impression. He does not want to conform to the modern

This exposition that includes details about Sammy is vital to the story’s development because this part shows us who Sammy is as a person. The exposition allows us to see what his opinions are in life and what he believes in. We are able to see his personality traits and his social class in relation to others. The author, Updike, illustrates how Sammy is slightly insecure and immature about approaching the girls and instead spends time with his coworkers discussing them. The exposition shows how he is longing for something different in life, to move away from working in the same store just to please his parents.

In “A&P” by John Updike, the choice of Sammy as narrator in first person point of view helps communicate the message that he approves of the daring decision the girls made to go out in public wearing nothing, but their bathing suits. Therefore from the moment the girls step into the store, they capture Sammy’s attention, and he focuses on how they act. The girls draw Sammy’s attention because they are not phased by the reactions they are causing the other customers in A&P to have. While the girls are shopping Sammy tells us, “I watched them all the way… The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle — — the girls were walking against the usual traffic (not that we have one — way signs or anything) — — were pretty hilarious. You could see them, when

A major theme in A&P is personal freedom. Throughout the story Updike uses metaphor for all elements in the story to implies the theme. At the beginning of the story, Sammy uses sarcastic tone to describe the customers as “sheep” and “houseslaves” which implies he is different from them in mindset. The way how Sammy talks about others shows his intellectual mind. He is not same as Stokesie who wants to be a manager one day. He also is not want to be Lengel who guards A&P for all these years. Although he is a part of these people since he has domestic difficulty, he thinks working in A&P is dull and dreary. He wants to escape from the conformity. Then, he saw the girls. “In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits” (746). Sammy notices

Identity is the fact of being who or what a person or thing is. In both short stories, the characters struggle with injustices of society. In A&P by John Updike, the main character Sammy is a sexist, rude and chauvinistic young man who judges three young girls who walk into the store by their physical appearances and learns that conforming to societies norms isn't right. Also, in the short story The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara the main character Sylvia is an inner city kid who gets taken to FAO Schwartz and learns the lesson that African Americans and White people aren't equal. Both short stories highlight that the world isn't fair to people, and you have to make a difference to change it.

3 The story of “A&P” by John Updike adopts the uses of figurative language to embellish the critical moments of transitions of people’s lives, particularly in the life of Sammy. Updike utilizes crafts of plot, character, setting, point of view, theme, and symbol to constitute the story, and to project the idea of "life passages." Also, Sammy undergoes a series of events that enables him to transition as a person in his life.

“A&P” by John Updike is a short story expressing the issues of female objectification and degradation in society by following a young A&P employee’s views (Sammy) as they change through experiences second hand. Sammy goes from stereotyping objectifier to a form of a public defender, standing up for girls who can’t really do so for themselves.

Sammy is the narrator of this story. He is an opinionated teenager who describes people shopping at the store as “sheep”. He believes everyone acts the same. When he sees the girls, he feels that there are people who are able to break out what is expected and can act different. By quitting his job, Sammy shows he is no “sheep” and have authority to act differently. The story takes place in a grocery store in a beach town. Without the setting, the girls would not have wandered the aisles and Sammy would not have a chance to quit his job. The theme of the story is appearance. The three girls walk in the grocery store with their beach outfits and get

John Updike's short story "A&P" is about a 19-year-old boy “Sammy” who is going through changes in his life, and has to make crucial decisions that are going to affect his job and his future in the long run. The story is set in an A&P grocery store, in a town north of Boston, and begins with Sammy’s description of the three girls that enter the store. Sammy decides to quit his job in order to impress the girl “Queenie.” Unfortunately, his gentlemanly act goes unnoticed by Queenie and her friends, and he has no choice but to face the consequences of his action. The author of the story clarifies that Sammy’s immaturity comes from his judgmental attitude, sexist beliefs, and disrespectful attitude.

Sammy knows that quitting his job will eventually make his life a lot worse, but he sticks to his decision because he does not like what the store has to offer him. When Sammy walks out of the store he is not only leaving behind a job, but also a rigorous state of mind related with the A&P. There are many reasons as to why Sammy quit his job.

Where does the dramatic conflict in A&P become apparent? Why does Sammy quit his job? What do you understand from the conclusion of the story? ( use examples from the text)