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 lifestyle that Sammy wants to live is similar to that of Queenie and her two friends who enter the A&P supermarket. Sammy asserts, “I slid right down her voice into her living room…the women were in sandals picking up herring snacks…they were all holding drinks the color of water with olives and sprigs of mint in them” (Updike 19). Sammy admiringly explains what he thinks the girls’ lifestyles are like. He specifically describes the types of food and drink being consumed to express the comfortable and pleasant lifestyle that the girls have. This type of lifestyle belongs to the upper classes of society. Sammy states, “She remembers her place, a place from which the crowd that runs A&P must look pretty crummy” (Updike 19). Sammy compares the girls’ lifestyles to his own and ultimately prefers their comfortable and classy lifestyle over his working at the A&P. He feels as though the girls are able to live carefree and is able to enjoy their summer because they don’t need to work summer jobs that they don’t want. Additionally, Sammy mentions that after he quit his job, he realized how hard life was going to be. He was not going to gain a lifestyle like Queenie and her friends automatically. Sammy would have to go to college and do a lot of hard work before being rewarded with an upper

Sammy begins the story by describing the three girls in bathing suits who have walked into the A & P grocery store. The girl who catches his attention is a chunky girl in a plaid green two-piece swimsuit. As Sammy continues to observe the girls, his interest seems to focus only on the girl who leads the other two into the store. Sammy refers to the girl he likes as "Queenie",someone showing poise and leadership, while the other girls

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.

Transition -- In fact, Supporting point 2 -- when he contemplates what Queenie might be thinking Quote -- he wonders if her head is empty or “a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar” (824). Explain/relate quote to point -- In his mind she and the other girls are objects, not human beings. Transition -- Even the nicknames he makes up show the sexist attitude of an immature teenage boy. Supporting point 3/Quote -- Referring to the one he likes as “Queenie,” to her tall friend as “Big Tall Goony Goony” or other female shoppers as “houselaves” indicates that women in his view have no place or identity beyond themselves(825). Explain/relate quote to point -- indicates that women in his view have no place or identity beyond themselves Transition – further Supporting Point 4 -- His false-chivalric gesture at the end reveals his immaturity. Quote -- He assumes that the girls need an “unsuspected hero” to save them Explain/relate to point --, that they cannot take care of themselves or handle a little embarrassment (827). Concluding sentence -- Clearly, Sammy has much to learn about heroism, chivalry, and

Sammy, deemed to be the protagonist of the story, is nothing short of the typical nineteen year old, full of insecurity and self doubt, working an average job at a local supermarket. He’s desperate to break out of hometown, desperate to leave behind the people like Stokesie and Lengel, who he perceives to be just some “scared pigs in a chute”, but struggles to find an escape route. That is, until he encounters Queenie, a girl who lives a life Sammy can only dream of. Queenie resembles everything Sammy wants to be. She is a natural leader, hence the nickname “Queenie” awarded to her by Sammy. She’s also proud, and confident. She doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her and loves herself without apology. So when Queenie offers Sammy the opportunity to transform himself into the person he only dreamed of being; a rebellious, confident and fearless spirit with little regard for anyone else, Sammy jumps at it. As a result, Sammy makes a rash decision to quit, in hopes of following Queenie to her sophisticated world outside of the A&P supermarket. Sammy’s rash decision to quit was an attempt to escape, live a new and exciting life, but falls short when the girls leave him behind and reality slaps him in the

A&P is a story about a 19 year old teenage boy that works at a supermarket and acts childish. In this story Sammy’s attitude is sexist and judgemental towards the customers coming in and out of the store. When the three girls walk in the store half naked with their swimsuits on, Sammy is shocked because he hasn't seen anyone wear swimsuits in public place before. The girls are in the aile’s shopping and Sammy is examining them to see how they shop and how they act, he says “ Sheep's pushing their carts down the aisle” (Updike page 17 A&P) he refers to the girls as sheep’s.

Sammy is the only character in this story who asserts his individuality. Two of the girls are simply following their leader, and Queenie is easily embarrassed and capitulates to Lengel. The other shoppers

Readers that interpret Sammy’s tone as that of a simply refreshed individual view him as an innocent teenager; he sees these three girls that don’t fit into the grocery store setting and simply tries to stereotype them based on what he sees and what he knows as a force of habit. Updike uses a lot of detail to emphasize how closely Sammy observes the girls. After all, people use many stereotypes in order to decide whether to trust a person or befriend them; it’s a safety measure at times. However, readers that interpret Sammy’s tone as conceited see him as a budding sexist; to them, he objectifies the girls based on their outward behavior and looks, he arrogantly judges what their individual reputations are, and he is so sure of himself that it is annoying to

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,

This imagery shows the kind of scandalous clothing that they were wearing giving them the power to bring attention and desire to Sammy and his coworkers. They stood no chance to these appealing looks that the girls had with the help of the bathing suits and the environment that they were in as Sammy describes “You know, it’s one thing in to have a girl in a bathing suit down on the beach, where what with the glare nobody can look at each other much anyway, and another thing in the cool of the A & P, under the fluorescent lights, against all those stacked packages, with her feet paddling along naked over our checker-board green-and-cream rubber-tile floor.” (Updike 165). This also shows that Sammy can not control himself once he unleashes his descriptive imagination when thinking about Queenie and her friends walking through the store.

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,

The condescending tone in which Sammy describes the A&P and its shoppers, referring to them as “the sheep” (Updike 17) and “houseslaves” (Updike 18), reflects the superiority and disdain he feels towards them.

 Innocence is sometimes seen as pure and good. In certain religions, a women’s virginity is seen as sacred and those who keep it are seen as saint-like,for instance the Virgin Mary. Other times innocence can be perceived as a weakness, being naïve or ignorant. Innocence is a double edged sword. In one hand, being innocent might help protect from the certain cruelties of the world, like a young child attending a funeral, they are too naïve to understand the situation but it suits them well and shields them from the grief of death. However, on the other side, innocence can be used to exploit those that cannot address the situation. Children have their own world and illusions. They need to protect themselves against the harsh reality of adulthood.      People view innocence and experience as polar opposites, as innocence is lost experienced is gained. However, innocence is intangible, it is a state of mind, it’s not something that is lost, but stray from, though innocence is always there to return to.Experience is a process of acquiring knowledge, a process which starts at birth. Childhood is a period of experience and

A and P Interpretive Essay Sammy quits his job working at the A and P right after the three girls leave the store because he wants to get their attention and become their hero after Lengel calls them out for not being fully dressed. A and P is a great short story written by John Updike about how the Narrator (Sammy) works at a store and one day gets distracted by three who walk in with very little clothes on. After they get yelled at for breaking store policy Sammy stands up for them and rethinks his career working at the A and P and quits his job. “I stood there with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not,” lines 9-11. This proves that Sammy, working at the cash register, got so distracted by the three girls that he had forgotten his train of thought and accidentally rang up an item twice without knowing it.