Determination To Escape The Norms In John Updike's A & P

In all good stories, there is a theme the author tries to convey. In John Updike’s short story, “A&P”, the author conveys the struggle of power through the significant use of the plot, setting and characters. The narrator, Sammy, begins the story when he notices three girls walk into the grocery store of a small town. The setting already poses a set for a struggle of power. At this point in the story, Sammy describes himself as above the “sheep” -- that is people shopping at the grocery store and even some of his co workers such as Stokesie or McMahon.

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.

In the short story "A & P", John Updike explains how Sammy is a young man working as a cashier. One day three young ladies come into the supermarket half-dressed wearing only their swimsuits. Sammy is intrigued by these young women, along with everyone else in the supermarket. Sammy watches their every move, as the girls made their selections. Sammy tries to play the hero at the end of the story; however, he may have been his own worst enemy.

In the short story "A & P", John Updike explains how Sammy is a young man working as a cashier. One day three young ladies come into the supermarket half dressed wearing only their swimsuits. Sammy is intrigued by these young women, along with everyone else in the supermarket. Sammy watches their every move, as the girls made their selections. Sammy tries to play the hero at the end of the story; however he may have been his own worst enemy.

In John Updike's “A&P” we see first hand the fragility of destiny, through a single particular moment in Sammy's life. Deciding to abandon the pale and bland pre-destined life of being a “sheep”(as often referred to by Sammy) Sammy dooms himself to a life of uncertainty and struggle. Updike beautifully illustrates to us first hand how a single split-second decision can forever change our lives, regardless of the reasons we had for making our decision.

• Style: The author chooses to portray an immature teenager who uses nicknames and some slang in his everyday language. (Most common teen) This teenager ,Sammy, is surrounded by adults everyday until he is exposed to people his age he uses a more exciting voice to describe their presence. The author shifts from one tense to another and uses many dashes to show the emotions and confusion of the main character. • Irony: Situational irony used when Sammy quits his job to defend the three girls in the bathing suits from Lengel.

How would feel to be in a town with mostly old and Lethargic community of people with traditional behavior and believes? Sammy is a Cash Register at the A&P supermarket near the beach in Boston. Everyday, he sees new tourists visiting the beach but one day, three girls with very inappropriate/attractive dress came inside. Perhaps, it is rare to see people like that because the town has traditional people with appropriate clothes. Sammy observes the girls very Meticulously as if they were aliens from different planet.

Every day we pass by men, women, boys, and girls of all different ages. We expect the adults to act mature like normal adults, and the kids to act like children. In the beginning of John Updike’s story “A&P”, the setting is in a store with an older woman watching to make sure that the cashier makes no mistakes with her order. However, when the cashier does mess up, the lady gets upset and warns the cashier of his mistake. After the woman leaves, the cashier goes back to looking at the girls, while other customers are now also starting to notice the girls.

In the story “The knight in the Cart” by Chrétien de Troyes we are taken through the journey of Lancelot. The quest motif tells us that one who goes on a quest is growing from a child to a man. The quest of Lancelot follows this motif heavily. During any kind of quest, you age and grow. You grow physically and you grow mentally.

Discuss one of the following regarding John Updike's "A&P": Characterization, Setting, Theme. 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.

1. Based on the dialogue Sammy uses, one can suspect he does not take himself too seriously. He speaks from a first person point of view which portrays him as a quiet observer. Sammy also seems to be slightly shallow because when he is referring to the girls in bathings suits inside the store he notes, the girl that initially caught his attention was the “chunky” girl in plaid. In addition to his shallowness, Sammy uses harsh words such as “the fat one with the tan sort of fumbled the cookies.”