Disrespectful Character Maturity In John Updike's A & P

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.

John Updike's story "A&P" talks about a 19-year old lad, Sammy, who has a job at the local grocery store, the A&P. Sammy works at the register in the store and is always observing the people who walk in and out each day. On this particular day that the story takes place, Sammy is caught off guard when a cluster of girls walk into the store wearing just their bathing suits. This caught Sammy's attention because the nearest beach is five miles away and he could not figure out why they would still be in their suits. Sammy continues to overlook the girls in the store throughout their endeavor to pick up some item's that they were sent in for. While they are wandering around the store Sammy watches the reactions of other customers, is yelled at

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.

He can let Lengel’s criticism of Queenie and her friends go, therefore conforming to society’s standards, or he can voice his own opinions and become independent. He appears to come to his own conclusion on what to do when he reminds himself of Queenie’s reaction to Lengel. Updike writes, “but remembering how he made that pretty girl blush makes me so scrunchy inside I punch the No Sale tab and the machine whirs ‘pee-pul’ and the drawer splats out” (167). Sammy then realizes the magnitude of what he has done once he has left the store. Updike writes, “… and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (167). Sammy knows that now, since he has gone against the normalities of society, he will not be looked upon fondly by others around him. Although he may not be liked by all, he has become his own person with his own thoughts, marking his coming of age and transition to adulthood. The external conflict experienced by Sammy in “A&P” helped him transition from conformity to

The story "A&P" by John Updike, deals with Sammy facing a test in his young manhood. Dealing with being accepted by society as opposed to making mature decisions in society. Sammy sees three girls walk in the store with bikini's on and his lust takes over, yet one out of the three named Queenie he loves the most. During this era of the story setting women's rights were very strict in regards to sexism, culture, and imprisonment. Updike's writing is very transparent for readers to see behind the veil on what is really going on in society. My sociological critical theory is "A&P" shows innovative ways of Updike exposing sexism, culture, and imprisonment and how it still affects the world today.

“"We are decent," Queenie says suddenly, her lower lip pushing, getting sore now that she remembers her place,[…]”( Updlike 20). Like Queeine, Sammy, finds himself making choices on this day as well. Sammy, having been fond of Queeine, was more likely than others to understand her feelings of resentment, being lectured by this older man. He seemed to have taken the out lash personal, embarrassed for the girls, despite knowing that their attire had been startling to see in the A&P. Sammy, though, was already at odds with the status of being an adult and its responsibilities that seemed forced down onto everyone at some point. He craved personal freedom and expression to create his own happiness and to avoid falling into the same trap like the other “marrieds” and “sheep”. Those already negative emotions were simply acting as fuel to the fire. Sammy, decided that his way of taking a stand against the repression of expression and freedom was to quit his job. By quitting his job he removed Lengel from power in his life. Sammy, walked out, hoping that Queenie would be impressed by him taking a stand. Instead, Sammy, finds himself alone, jobless contemplating how the world has changed for him.

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

Originally when the girls come into the store Sammy thought the three girls were ignorant and foolish. This is seen from his lack of understanding of women “You never know for sure how girls’ minds work” (Updike 1) When Sammy says this he reveals what he really thinks of women. This not only shows he does not understand women but also how he assumes without previous knowledge that these three girls were ignorant. Sammy assumes they are ignorant because they do not see things the same way or do not see eye to eye. Sammy shows more of this when he says “Poor kids, I began to feel sorry for them, they couldn’t help it” (Updike 2). Sammy assumes that just because they are girls that they lack intelligence that men possess. He thinks that the girls should be afraid or fearful for trying to stand up for their cause. Sammy also does not view the girls as beings but rather objects. As in the story Sammy says “It is alright for those young girls to walk around in their bathing suits, but other women with six children and varicose veins, should put on some clothes.” (Updike 3) Based on this we can conclude that Sammy is not as interested in the

Primarily, Updike portrays Sammy as a sarcastic and hypercritical teenage boy who has very little respect for his customers who are primarily women. It’s understandable that a horny teenage boy would be terribly distracted when three girls enter the grocery store wearing only swimsuits; however, his first thought was to refer to a grown woman as “witch about fifty with no eyebrows,” because she got upset with Sammy for ringing up the HiHo crackers twice. To follow he stated “if she’d been born at the right time they would have burned her over in Salem.”

Throughout the story Sammy is watching a bunch of girls in bikinis wander around the store he works in. While he is watching them, he ignores a person at his register and scans their item twice. When the person gets angry about this, Sammy explains the situation as if the customer is in the wrong by calling her a witch and a “cash-register-watcher”. This is the first-time Sammy shows pointless rebellion. Later, the store’s manager comes

Even though Sammy’s mindset is childlike, he still tries to portray himself in an adult manner. The reader can observe throughout the story the way in which Sammy thinks to be immature and quick to judge. Having his concentration only on the girls, he made a mistake while ringing up a customer. Because he is so focused on how the girls are dressed and what they are up to, he has full descriptions of each girl and thinks he has them all figured out. He points out the leader and even names her “Queenie” while not giving the other two as much attention. The reader can see how Sammy sort of mocks some of the customers when he sees Lengel “checking the sheep through” (Updike 435). Sammy’s priority, which should only be ringing up customers, but happens to be seeing what the girls are up

John Updike portrays the power of desire in his 1960s short story “A&P”. Through Sammy, the narrator and main character, Updike reveals how a feeling of desire and a sense of responsibility can motivate someone to change their life. By applying the psychoanalytic literary theory to analyse “A&P” a closer look can be had on the behaviour and motivations of Sammy and what leads him to make a drastic decision to quit his job. Sammy feels a sense of responsibility over the girls that walk into the A&P and this responsibility, of which he knows little of, causes him to imagine what he could have in his life. When Sammy’s manager, Lengel, humiliates the girls it is like an impetus which results in him realising what he wants to be, ending with him

“In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits (Updike 430).” The opening of the short story written by John Updike, called ‘A&P’, immediately creates a sense of bewilderment. The setting the author uses as the backdrop is very essential to the story and helps with understanding the main character’s decision to eventually quit his job at the end. The protagonist and main character is Sammy, an employee of the A&P. Sammy not only walks away from his job, but he also chooses to leave the A&P and what the store represents in the story. John Updike’s ‘A&P’ uses the setting of the story to create a feeling of being restricted.

In the story “A&P” by John Updike, 19-year-old Sammy is the narrator. Sammy is a cashier in an A&P grocery store on a Thursday afternoon in the summer. The story reveals Sammy as a typical male who is trying to find himself in the world. Sammy is a person who is skilled at judging people based on how they dress, and how they act. We live in a world where judging has become out of control.