Analysis Of John Updike 's ' A & P '

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

In John Updike’s coming of age story “A&P,” the protagonist Sammy sees what he believes to be an unfair act to three teenage girls in bikini in the grocery store. He makes an immature decision and quits in front of his manager that decided to address the girls about their clothing choice in front of the entire grocery store, instead of talking to them in private. Unfortunately, the teenage girls do not notice Sammy’s heroic act, and he is left alone in the parking lot to face the repercussions of his childish actions. John Updike chooses to write in first-person, so the reader gets to know the narrator’s real character. In his short story “A&P,” John Updike demonstrates that Sammy is an immature character immaturity from his disrespectful personality, judgmental attitude, and misogynist beliefs.

In John Updike’s “A&P”, a young 19 year old cashier named Sammy was greatly distracted by three girls that one day entered the A&P grocery store he worked at. The girls, wearing just bikinis in the grocery store, troubled Sammy and distracted him from work. Sammy was eventually interested in the girls to the point that he would do anything to impress them or catch their eyes. Later, the girls went to Sammy’s register and were confronted by the manager, who condemned their attire. This was when Sammy saw his opportunity to impress the girls and acted on it without any thought. Sammy initially didn’t hesitate to quit, but shortly after leaving the A&P, seemed like he wanted to go back and change the decision he had made. This was when he realized he couldn’t go back. In Updike’s short story, a common theme or central idea was found that people typically make irrational decisions when drawn by desire or lust.

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”.

On the surface, the hero of John Updike's much-anthologized short story "A&P" does not seem like a hero on the level of an Odysseus or a Hercules. Sammy is a cashier at a local grocery store. However, when three girls wearing bathing suits enter the A&P, Sammy begins to experience a call to action. For the first time in his life, he takes a stand when he feels as if the pretty girls are being treated with a lack of respect. Sammy feels the first stirrings of rebellion within him, as he chafes against the constraints of his life. Campbell divides the three parts of the hero's quest into a circular journey of departure, initiation, and return. Over the course of "A&P" Sammy makes his 'departure' into the world of the hero.

“He’s going to be manager some day, maybe in 1990 when it’s called the Great Alexandrov and Petrooshki Tea Company or something.” His judgmental humor makes him think that Stokesie is not ready for that type of position. Sammy considers himself to be more mature than he is; even though he is younger than Stokesie. Along with the judging the girls and his co-workers; Sammy judges the customers as well. “The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle.”

So much detail was put into this short story. After reading this, I felt like I grasped a basic understanding of Sammy’s character. Throughout the story the emphases was put on the girls in bathing suits, however, we get that Sammy is a good guy who needs the money to help his parents out. The most interesting part of the story was how he described these

Sammy philosophical differences first show in his feeling sorry for the girls at the way McMahon, the butcher had leered at them, even though Sammy himself was guilty of the same lewd conduct. I believe Sammy thought it acceptable for him to leer at the girls, but not for old McMahon because of the difference in age between Sammy and McMahon. Sammy's philosophical differences culminate with him quitting his job because of the way his boss, Lengel, treated the girls. Even though Lengel states its the store policy and it applies to everyone, Sammy views this as unfair treatment of the girls and uses this to take a stand for his beliefs and quits. Sammy realizes the magnitude of his philosophical decision when he walks out and finds the girls are gone and nothing has changed. Sammy realizes he has made a choice and he must stick to that choice even though nothing has changed. The decision he made was his choice based on his personal belief of right and wrong, even if Mr. Lengel and his parents couldn't understand that.

John Updike is viewed by his readers as a progressive voice in his work that promotes feminist issues. He makes these issues stand out more evidently, rather than hidden, in order for the reader to realize how women are viewed in society. From reading Updike’s A&P, the story sends the message to readers of genders working together to strive for equality. If readers do not carefully and actively read A&P they may miss key messages about the power men hold over women, not just in society but in literature as well. Even though Updike’s A&P seems to be a story about a teenager finally standing up to his boss and quitting the job he hates, the tone used reveals the hidden message on how women are in a male-oriented world. The relationship between both men are women are shown as unequals, men on the top and women always below them, Updike makes sure to open up the reader 's eyes in realizing the way females are being treated unfairly.

Instead, after overcoming obstacles like his apathetic uncle and the work of school, the boy arrives in Araby during closing time. After witnessing the store clerk’s lack of interest in him as a customer, he decides not to buy anything and then, upon his failure, he realizes how his crush will be fruitless through a negative epiphany. The boy inevitably understands the futility of his actions, as if the entire world was acting against his efforts to impress the girl he was obsessed with; his determination is suppressed after making it so far and failing at the final step of his mission. The inciting hope that the conversation instilled in him combined with the obstacles he had to overcome, only made his failure all the more bitter, but this harsh failure is the turning point that the boy needed in order to escape the childish and naive infatuation that he was experiencing. Failure was the lesson that made him understand that his love will remain unrequited, a realization that is the prerequisite for his sexual maturity. In a similar fashion, John Updike’s A&P portrays the mundane life of a cashier named Sammy who works in a grocery store called A&P. Sammy observes the people around him — customers and fellow employees — and refers to them as “sheep” because of their conformity to society. The story begins as three girls clad in bikinis walk into the store; they

Annotated Bibliography: In “A&P,” John Updike presents readers with an honest narrative structure that features unusual characterization. In the story, John Updike conveys the message of choices and consequences in Sammy’s life. However, as the story develops there is a deeper characterization that arises to the forefront.

The literary question I will be answering is from page twenty- three. The question asks, “What is at stake for the protagonist in the conflict?”(Gioia 23) The short story I have decided to work with for this particular assignment is “A&P” by John Updike, which spans from page seventeen to twenty-one.

    John Updike’s story “A&P” is about a teenage boy named Sammy who is a counter boy at the store A&P. Sammy chooses to quit his job after his manager, Lengel, embarrassed a group of girls. Ironically, the girls came into the store with only swimsuits on, and Sammy quit to earn the girls attention. When Lengle was giving the three girls a lecture, Sammy has the feeling to do something heroic, so he says, ‘"I quit" loud enough for everyone at the checkout to hear him (Updike).  After he quit, Sammy regretted the decision straight away because the girls never waited for him, Sammy’s “…stomach kind of fell as [he] felt how hard the world was going to be to [him] hereafter” (Updike). He felt this way because he knows he is being selfish quitting his job for a group of teenage girls. Consequently, Sammy made the choice to do something for himself, and doing a selfish act ends up making his life a little harder.

One of the most constant rites in the life of man is the transition. Human beings, in their daily endeavors, are forced to transition from one stage of life to another, including transiting from life to death. Transition exposes one to real life situations, which without maturity may lead to unexpected consequences. In the story of “A&P,” through the main character Sammy, John Updike reveals how the transition could be fatal depending on the level of maturity. The story seems to begin when three young women walk into A&P; a local grocery store located in Northern Boston town, five miles from the beach; where Sammy works as a cashier, wearing nothing else except their bathing suits. Their attire immediately attracts the attention of most male workers in the grocery, having an immense effect on the young teenage man Sammy. Lengel, Sammy’s manager, reprimands the ladies, expressing to them that their attire was inappropriate, and next time they visit the

Every character in works of literature is subjected to criticism and critique by its readers. In the short story, “A+P”, the protagonist, Sammy has been subjected to criticism for his actions of quitting his job, a reaction of seeing young ladies be disrespected in his workplace for wearing bathing suits. Many readers depict Sammy as immature and ignorant for quitting his job. However, the author, John Updike contradicts this assumption, portraying Sammy as a nineteen year old, who demonstrates strong morals, ambition, defiance, and a promising future, characterizing him not as an insolent teen but a developing young man.