Analytical Essay: The Plot Of A & P

In the short story “A & P,” the author, John Updike depicts a grocery store called “A & P” in a small town of North Boston, Massachusetts. The store is located on a point about four to five miles from a hot, sunny beach. Because of the hot summer weather, you are going to see bathing suits, flip flops, swimming trunks, or sunglasses. The story starts with three teenage girls that entered and stroll around the store barefooted along with their bathing suits on. The story vividly illustrates the characterization, conflicts, and imagery based on the clothing in which Updike uses to communicate the theme of the story. Updike shows the readers how Sammy was attracted to those three girls who however, were not obviously interested in him. He took no initiative to stop and think before he made his grand final decision. Likewise, his manager, Lengel watches his whole life change and unravels in seconds based on his immaturity. At the end of the story, Sammy perceives that the whole world is going to be hard on him; also reality sets in because he now has to expect

This story could make one wonder, how far would you go to get the person of your dreams. Three young ladies walk into the A&P store wearing nothing but bathing suits. The girls catch the attention of Sammy who is the cashier. Sammy watches the girls walk around the store while making mental notes about each one of the girls. When Mr. Lengel the store manager sees the girls, he lets them know that the store policy is to have your shoulders covered and to dress appropriately when you enter the store. This conversation upsets Sammy, so in the moment Sammy spontaneously quits his job in hopes of being the girl’s hero. After Sammy takes off his apron and walks out the door he looks around, but the girls have already gone. Within John Updike’s short story “A&P” the author uses foreshadowing, a dynamic character, and symbolism to show us how life can be unpredictable at times.

When three young teenage girls enter the store wearing nothing but bathing suits, things begin to change for Sammy. Sammy takes notice of the actions of the girls; how they go against the normal “traffic flow” of the supermarket and break the social rules of society with their attire. It is these attributes that attract Sammy to them, as they represent freedom and escape from the life he finds himself in. When Lengel approaches them and reprimands them for what they are wearing, Sammy quits in the hopes of becoming the girls unsuspected hero.

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

The story happens in 1961. This is the post war period when the market is prospering at the time. New ideas, such as dressing freely comes up as the economy grows. A&P is in a small town located in northern Boston, far away from the big cities. People there are not ready for the changes in the way people dress openly and in mindsets. People’s values in Sammy’s community are conformed. As Sammy points out that: “we’re right in the middle of town, and the women generally put on a shirt or shorts or something before they get out of the car in to the street.” Women in this town should not wear revealing costumes to public places. This is not only people’s values, but their policy. When three girls dressing in bathing suits show up in A&P, they get condemned by the manager Lengel. Lengle, the lower class in society, is the representation for conservative in the town. As a manager, he supposes to put customers’ need in the first place. However, he puts his personal value above business’s principle. He reprimands Queenie that: “We want you decently dressed when you come in here” (749). “It’s our policy” (749). It is obvious that people are under strict supervision in this town. They are not allowed to dress what they want, but should follow the town’s dressing standard. Therefore, Updike creates a conserved setting that helps to reinforce the theme of conformity versus personal

The setting of this story is in an era where women's rights were not privileged in different areas. In this story, the store had a policy on women coming in modestly clothed. The issue is Lengel the manager would not allow the girls to explain themselves instead he comes rather harsh at them. The reason why the girls came to the store was to pick up a few items, but they were already on their way to the beach. Lengel could have a reason better with them, at least let the girls explain themselves, considering it is summertime, and there is no school. Lengel could have to ask Sammy to explain to the girls. This is discrimination of the fact that these girls are not ugly, Sammy thought each one was attractive in a way. Lengel is unfair and possibly biased of woman that come in the store

What truly gets the attention of Sammy is Queenie’s pink bathing suit that had straps that were pushed off which exposed her bare shoulders. He describes that with the straps down you can see just “her” and how she was “more than pretty.” Customers of A & P are in shock when they witness the girls’ appearance in the store. Stokesie, another cashier at A & P who is only three years older than Sammy, is married with two kids. He does not resist fantasizing over the girls. He makes commentary along with Sammy, again clearly displaying the mindset of that age group. The store is quiet, Sammy is anxiously awaiting the girls to come into view as there is nothing else to do. He fabricates scenarios in his head such as which check out aisle they will choose when their shopping has concluded.

“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.

John Updike presents significant items to represent certain points in the story like the girls bathing suits, the herring snacks, and the sheep. When the girls walk into the A&P, they caused a disruption mainly because of what they were wearing, bathing suits. During that time, women were expected to be fully clothed when entering a store or else they drew attention to their sexuality, which Sammy noticed quickly. As everyone reacted to their bathing suits it later represented a kind of freedom to Sammy. After Lengal body shames them saying, “Girls, I don't want to argue with you. After this come in here with your shoulders covered. It's our policy” (Updike 20), it crushed Sammy’s freedom feeling, so he reacted. Sammy also feels the contrast between the girls and the sheep as they try to purchase

In the beginning of the story, John Updike used the three girls’ swimsuits to symbolize their disregard for social norms. The base of the entire story is about the girls being dressed indecently in a grocery store. These girls are in their teen to young adult years, so they all must be aware that it is not acceptable to wear bikinis into a grocery store. Therefore, the only other way to explain why they would be in just their swimsuits is that they don’t care that this isn't socially acceptable, and to disregard the universal rules for being a “normal person” sets you apart as an individual. Consequently, the swimsuits are the cause of the conflict for the girls. We know this from Lengel telling the girls, “‘I don't want to argue with you. After this come in here with your shoulders covered. It's our policy’" (Updike 4). As you can see, this quote tells us that the girls are not welcome in the store because of their attire, and Queenie’s reaction confirms the fact that they knew this wasn’t acceptable. The text tells us that, “Queenie blushes” (Updike 3) which shows that she knew that she wasn't supposed to be in a bikini, because blushing is a very natural reaction to being caught doing something you shouldn't. So if the girls knew they shouldn't be in bikinis, then the only way to explain why they would wear them is because they don't care. Another

The "A & P" had "fluorescent lights" whereas the beach has a "glare" so "nobody can look at each other much anyway" (18). Being in the "A & P" and being under fluorescent lights made "Queenie" and her friends more noticed. A lot of people in the store stared at the girls. This is a consequence they faced due to their decision to wear beach attire in the wrong place. These two pieces of evidence show the two consequences the girls faced when they made the decision to wear beach clothes in the "A & P" store. Another example is when Sammy decides to quit his job after the manager yelled at the girls. Sammy decides to quit his job in paragraph twenty-one on page twenty. He quit in hopes that the girls would hear him standing up for them and see him as their hero. Unfortunately, they didn't hear him. Sammy knew there was going to be a consequence for quitting when his "stomach kind of fell" because he realized "how hard the world was going to be" to him (20). The author also made is clear that there would be consequences when Legal said, "Sammy, you don't want to do this to your Mom and Dad"

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,

Sammy, a young employed man, operates the checkout lane at a grocery store “north of Boston” (350). As he works behind the counter, Sammy notices “three girls in nothing but bathing suits” (348) “walking into the A&P with [their] straps down” (349). Lengel, the store manager, advises the girls to cover themselves. Queenie, the leader of the group replied, “We are decent” (352). At this time, Sammy notices a unique class among these socialites.

Sammy faces the decision of staying at his job or leaving. His parents are friends with the manager of the store, Lengel. One day three girls walk into the store wearing nothing but bathing suits. Seeing it is a slow day, Sammy observes the girls as they go through the store and to his luck come to his check out station. Lengel then sees them at checkout and confronts the girls to tell them about the store’s policy that they should be dressed decently upon entering the store, “‘Girls, I don’t want to argue with you. After this come in here with your shoulders covered. It’s our policy’” (Updike). This is where Sammy has his transitioning experience. Upon hearing this conversation, Sammy tries be a hero for the girls by making the decision to quit his job, “The girls, and who’d blame, them are in a hurry to get out, so I say ‘I quit’ to Lengel quick enough for them to hear,

On a regular day, three girls in bathing suits walk inside a grocery store called A&P. The three girls in bathing suits brought a lot of attention with them. At a grocery store, it is very uncommon to enter a store with a bathing suit which stirs some controversy revealing a lot of skin. One could say they did the job of getting that attention from the employees. The story is told from sammys perspective, which he talks about each girls looks. “The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two piece. She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs” (627). The description sammy gave about the girl demonstrates the attention they are receiving. Beside sammy, Stokesie can not keep his eyes off the girls. Even though he is a married man, he could not maintain his etiquette at work. It may seem like the group of girls hold a power that men seek. They play it off pretty good with the help of their leader queenie who catches the attention of Sammy.