John Updike Symbolism

She didn’t look around, not this queen, she just walked straight on slowly, on these long prima-donna legs.” From this description, the reader can understand why Sammy has dubbed this character as the leader of her trio. Furthermore, the reader can infer that the Queen is sassy, fierce, and confident. Additionally, Updike’s literary method not only aids the story in character development, but also depicts the severity of the girls’ actions by wearing bathing suits into a supermarket. Through Sammy, Updike explains how the girls startled shoppers by their attire, “You could see them, when Queenie’s white shoulders dawned on them, kind of jerk, or hop, or hiccup,

Sammy was just impressed by how the girls had the decency to walk in a grocery in bikinis, it made his day. “The one that caught my eye was the one in the plaid green two-piece” (Updike). He never spoke to the girls, he only stared like a deer in headlights. These statements explain how

“A&P” by John Updike is written through the eyes of a young grocery store clerk named Sammy. While working, a group of girls walk into the store, wearing their bathing suits, causing all the workers to drool over them, but when they come to check out the manager Lengel tells them that what they are wearing is against policy. As the girls leave, embarrassed, Sammy courageously quits his job due to this incident, hoping to impress the girls, but as he walks out of the A&P he realizes that they are gone. Post-Structuralism, also known as Deconstruction, is a school of literary criticism where the reader “focuses on the inherent, internal contradictions in language and interpretation” (deconstruction). In essence, the reader must read between

When three young girls in bathing suits walk in the grocery store where he works, he cannot stop thinking about them. He talks to himself in his head and goes over every detail of the girls. For example, he says, “The one that caught my eye was the one in the plaid green two piece” (Updike 294). He is supposed to be working but he cannot help but think about the girls. He then begins to focus on just one of the girls that seems to be the queen bee.

Protagonist vs. Antagonist in Updike’s “A & P” The protagonist vs. the antagonist in John Updike’s story “A & P” is highly debatable. However, there is much reason to believe that Sammy is the protagonist and Lengel, Sammy’s boss, is the antagonist. Sammy is portrayed as the sweet and naïve boy next door. He seems to be a typical 19-year-old with a healthy sexual appetite. When “three girls in nothing but bathing suits” (201), walk into A & P, it is the most exciting thing that has happened to Sammy while working at the store.

Beth needs to purchase clothes for her Uncle Al’s birthday party. As she browses through clothes she meets a friendly employee whose name is Hannah. Hannah offers hold on to Beth’s belongings while she goes into the changing room to try on clothes. As soon as she steps out of the changing room, she is caught by Madge P. Groton who is the head security guard of the store. Madge accuses Beth of shoplifting, but in reality Beth hasn’t stolen anything.

When I was writing my response, I thought of the word gender but nonconformity never came to mind when I read the story. Non-conformity is a good way to explain why people are distracted by the girls since it doesn’t follow the norm of the community. Do you think Sammy might be a little embarrassed for the girls since he explains in paragraph ten, “… the women generally put on a shirt or shorts or something…”? Another good point you brought up is stereotypical view. Sammy has the stereotypical view of women in A&P referring to them as “house-slaves in pin curlers” and the younger girls through his vivid descriptions of what the girls appearance in their bathing suits.

When we visit groceries, we pay attention to our groceries because we don 't encounter awkward situations where the females wear clothing which would distract us from our groceries. Our normal task in the grocery would be to walk in and buy our necessary goods and leave. The story A and P by John Updike focuses on a grocery shop where three female characters walk in wearing their bathing suit and catches the worker’s attention including the manager. Sammy, a employee in the grocery store observes the females and shows his interest towards the girls. This story is taking place in small town where people know each other and often judge each other on their appearance and their personality.

In Updike’s “A&P” the title itself gives the setting, a small-town grocery store the narrator works in and the setting also helps set its own tone. Details like the main character and narrator Sam stating, “I forgot to say he thinks he’s going to be manager one day, maybe in 1990” (Updike, p.748) when talking about a young coworker, help add to the setting explaining the story takes place in a time when three girls in bathing suites outside a beach setting may draw scornful

He works at a suburban grocery store (A&P) and judges every person that walks in. One day, when three girls walk in the A&P in nothing but bathing suits, he puts label after label on them in his head observing everything they do, “(do you really think it’s a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar? )” (Updike, 1). Sammy thinks of himself as a superior to everyone else, even these girls that he’s practically obsessed with. His manager doesn’t think so highly of them.