Analyzing John Updike's 'A & P'

John Updike is considered one of the greatest writers in modern American history. He is known for the idea that seemingly ordinary aspects of American life are actually quite fascinating. He wanted readers to see the beauty and magic of life, so he tried to describe everyday things using the most clear but beautiful language possible. Many of Updike’s pieces are drawn from his own life such as his marriage and his boyhood, as shown in three of his short stories: “A&P”, “Ace in the Hole”, and “Pigeon Feathers”. Updike’s narrative technique is explored through the analysis of plot structure, thematic patterning, and irony in these three short stories.

The idea of “social classes” is predisposed as an awkward subject among Americans; therefore it is rarely talked about because it makes people uncomfortable. Generally when interviewed, people claim there are no classes in the area where they live (Fussell). Class and status are two completely different things because status associates a range of things and class is simply a unit (Goldschmidt). Americans often give away their class merely by the criteria they use to define what the word “class” means (Fussell). The United States’ ideology of a classless society has changed immensely over time. In modern-day America social class is concerned in everything from the diversity of citizens, mobility, and political issues.

A&P is the story of a nineteen-year-old boy, Sammy, who is fighting against the expectation to blindly accept the social norms of society and follow the dull, routine life set before him. Sammy currently works as a cashier at the local A&P supermarket and describes the customers shopping within A&P as sheep, houseslaves and pigs being loaded into a chute. He yearns to be something more than a chain climbing employee like his co-worker, Stokesie, or his boss, Lengel, who haggles over cabbages and hides in the manager’s office all day.

In his short story "A & P" John Updike utilizes a 19-year-old adolescent to show us how a boy gets one step closer to adulthood. Sammy, an A & P checkout clerk, talks to the reader with blunt first person observations setting the tone of the story from the outset. The setting of the story shows us Sammy's position in life and where he really wants to be. Through the characterization of Sammy, Updike employs a simple heroic gesture to teach us that actions have consequences and we are responsible for our own actions.

Why Sammy does what he does at the end of the story becomes a turning point in his life which is never revealed, and has left many readers wondering “Why did Sammy quit his job?” John Updike’s short story “A&P” takes place in the 1960’s, in a town located somewhere North of Boston and it talks about a 19-year old adolescent boy named Sammy, who works as a check-out clerk at a supermarket called A&P. The setting of the story uses foreshadowing in many ways to show how Sammy dislikes his job and yearns for freedom. For instance, he mentions that when you go through the punches and after doing it so often, it begins to make a little song that you hear words to. In Sammy’s case, he hears “Hello (bing) there, you (gung) hap-py pee-pul (splat),”¬¬¬

The short story “A&P” written by John Updike, is about three girls who change Sammy’s life. The three girls came from the beach and are not dressed properly to enter a grocery store called A&P. Sammy, the main character, is a check out clerk, and observes every detail about the girls. Sam even gives each of the girls a name. His favorite is “Queenie.” Sammy is obviously the type of guy who doesn’t get a lot of girls. Sam has a conflict of person vs. society. Because of his dead end job, obsession with Queenie, and his noble act to save the girls from embarrassment, Sammy has a conflict between himself and society.

The short story, “A&P”, by John Updike, gives readers a glance at the life of a teenage boy, Sammy, who makes a rash decision after encountering three girls at the local grocery store. The theme of “A&P” is that desire for a new life can be dangerous when it provokes irrational action. Updike effortlessly conveys this theme through his use of setting, characterization, and symbolism throughout the short story.

A&P is described to be, “...five miles from a beach...but we’re right in the middle of town...north of Boston…” (Updike 19). Sammy’s description of the A&P present the setting as an ugly and boring place to be in. The fluorescent light is as cool as the “checkerboard green-and-cream rubber-tile floor”(Updike 19). The everyday grocery shoppers move in the same direction except for the girls in the swim suits, for they move against everyone else, and everything is organized into perfection along the tidy aisles. This degrading routine in this establishment is implied by Sammy’s careless reference to the usual shoppers as “sheep,” “houseslaves,” and “pigs” (Updike 18). These frequent customers seem to walk the store in oblivion to everything else around them; as Sammy points out, “I bet you could set off dynamite in an A&P and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their lists…” (Updike 18).

John Updike, one of the most forward-thinking and socially provocative writers of the 50s and 60s, is known for his “incisive presentation of the quandaries of contemporary personal and social life.” (Lawn 529) Updike graduated from Harvard University and wrote for one of the more cutting edge publications like The New Yorker- both are notoriously ahead of their time and harbor controversial ideas. In his short story “A&P”, Updike reveals a young man named Sammy in a society on the brink of a social revolution- one in which a group of girls and an innocent cashier will unknowingly lead. Updike, through symbolism and syntax, shows how the girls are leading the revolution, how Sammy is feeling the wrath of this revolution, and

Breaking away from the traditional is a struggle that contains several sacrifices and consequences. In John Updike’s “A&P,” Sammy is a young teenager who transforms his wishes into reality. At first glance, he seems like a normal teenage boy, but instead he is an observational character who is trying to find a way to stand up for himself. Throughout the story, he undergoes changes to reveal a different outlook for his future. Sammy demonstrates that he is a dynamic character through his views on the regular customers, his reaction to the girls, and in his decision to quit his job.

John Updike’s ‘A&P’, is about a young man’s struggle with morality, authority, and freedom. Through a series of events Sammy witnessed injustice in his workplace leading him to quit his job. When Sammy quit his job he was taking a stand against authority because he longed for freedom from the A&P and his manager. Sammy made the leap from an adolescent, knowing little about life, into a man facing the consequences from his actions. John Updike’s use of language and actions reveal the internal struggles and relationships of a young man growing into adulthood.

In “A&P”, John Updike uses compelling diction, language, and description to enhance the perspective of Sammy within the story and his final decision to quit his job. The use of imagery within the supermarket develops the environment Sammy worked in to a greater extent and painted diverse pictures of the customers. The derogatory descriptions of Lengel and some customers was also significant in terms of revealing Sammy’s emotions about his job at A&P. The nature of the situation with the girls and descriptive language of the customers and environment were also significant factors.A spontaneous effort to portray Sammy’s power and independence was a significant aspect Updike made more interesting by implementing dialogue, diction, and theme.

The critical essay by Lawrence Jay Dessner explains the importance of the themes of irony and innocence in John Updike’s short story “A&P.” The essay begins with a short summary of the story, and introduces the character of Sammy. Dessner argues that the story depends on irony. The reader expects a certain action and reaction from Sammy, but instead he does the opposite. This irony provides an innocent air of humor due to Sammy’s lack of world knowledge and youthful outlook on life. The remainder of this literary criticism analyzes Sammy’s interactions with the other

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.

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.