Sheep By Updike Analysis

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

“"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.

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

Infrequency rather than frequency triggers the events that occur in the A&P grocery store. The sexually appealing nature of the girls provokes Sammy’s carnal appetite and engenders rebellious feelings towards conformity as well. This allows him to realize that his life has been tailored to that of the mundane lives of the other A&P employees and customers. However, this epiphany leads Sammy to act impulsively when the girls are being admonished for their revealing attire by Lengel. Lengel, the conventional and austere store manager, further embodies the conformity that surrounds Sammy as Lengel reprimands the girls for wearing bathing suits in a grocery store. As Sammy sees his manager embarrassing the girls, Sammy has the choice of being a “sheep” or breaking out of the conformed structure of the A&P store, such as the girls has done. Sammy is refreshed by the uniqueness the girls bring, and he also wants to be part of that. This shows that he wants to protect what the girls and what they represent, which is contrast to conformity. Sammy ultimately decides to defend the girls’ honor by quitting his job, and thus makes the statement of not being a “sheep” that is mindlessly led by society. Although this decision was driven partly by carnal feelings, it was primarily out of impulse and curiosity of what lies beyond the restricted borders of normalcy in the A&P grocery store. Even though Sammy quit his job for the girls,

      Also emerging from Sammy's thoughts were his attitudes about his place in the world. Throughout the story, he refers to the customers whom he is employed to serve as sheep's derogatory term implying that he thought them to be dumb and maddeningly consistent. However, the way he describes the girl who disrupted the flock showed that he regarded her with an attitude of awe and high esteem. He set her apart in a class different from his own when he described how he envisioned her family: "Her father and the other men were standing around in ice-cream coats and bow ties and the women were in sandals picking up herring snacks on toothpicks off a big plate and they were all holding drinks the color of water with olives and sprigs of mint in them" (2). Obviously, Sammy does not have a hard time deciding which class he likes better, for he constantly refers to the store in ways that reveal his contempt for it.

Sammy’s fervor for these young females heightened as they passed by him time and time again as he stood idly at his register. He even speculated as to which aisle the young girls would pop up in next. Sammy states, “The whole store was like a pinball machine and I didn’t know which tunnel they’d come out of” (Updike 371). Sammy’s feelings of passion are mixed with rebellion as he witnesses his manager rebuking the young women for entering his Puritan domain in their sinful attire. Sammy is under

This story takes place in a small town grocery store named A&P. It is located just north of Boston where Sammy, the protagonist, works as a cashier. The A&P sits at the center of town and from the front door, Sammy can see the bank, two real estate offices, and the Congregational Church. Sammy is a very sarcastic and opinionated young man, who is on the verge of adulthood. He is nineteen years old and has a very keen observational sense in the opposite sex. His fellow cashier, Stokesie, is twenty-two, married and has two young children. The A&P is managed by a much older man named Lengel, who is a friend of Sammy's parents. Not only is Lengel the manager and a friend of the family, he is also a Sunday school teacher and the reason why Sammy

Lengel says, “We want you decently dressed when you come in here” to the girls as to enforce “Our policy” (875) being the store. Sammy sees the embarrassment on the girls face and seems quite upset with Lengels authority. He acts on the chance to rebel against Lengel and decides to quit knowing the consequences. He believes he shouldn’t follow these strict rules that limit him and others. A step closer to self-liberation.

As a gorgeous female enters the store, Sammy’s intellect dissolves. His shallow feelings at the moment causes his immediate rebellion. His only positive feelings come from what actions he carried out. No one praises him for quitting his job to defend the poorly dressed female. Sammy thought that he was the real deal when he claimed that Lengel “didn’t have to embarrass them” in their argument.

Many have argued that this story has a feminist undertone to the main idea. Conceding, that going into public is a bit bold, especially for the time period shows somewhat of a revolt by the girls. Although, someone can contend that if a girl or girls went into a grocery store in a bikini during today’s time, it would result in the same sort of reaction. One can also argue that the story is condescending toward women and shows them in a negative light. Especially, from the main character Sammy, with his description of the girls, also the nick names he gives the three girls like Plaid, Big Tall Goony-Goony, and Queenie. Moreover, the assumptions about how a girls

Through his internal conflict, he is also looking for freedom, by standing up against his manager who is a Sunday school teacher and a friend of his parents. Sammy is looking for freedom he is looking to boost his self-worth in standing up for these girls in what he feels is right by expressing this interaction of freedom from his small town, his background and with him on the brink of being a teenager and a man through this interaction he is looking for

They get all this attention due to not being like the rest in the supermarket society, which is like “house slaves” or “sheep”. They were in swimsuits as though they were going to the beach which was said to be about 5 miles away from the supermarket, so it’s rather confusing as to why they are in beach attire. This causes a the conflict to become apparent. The big issue is when Sammy’s boss tells the girls off about their attire, how they shouldn't be dressed like that especially in the supermarket society. This triggers his idea of being a hero and quitting so he can impress the girls especially “Queenie” The whole part of the manager telling off the girls is the climax which pushes the main protagonist to quitting as an act of heroism in defense for these girls he doesn’t even know. He soon after realizes that he is gonna have a much harder life now that he quit his job at the

As the story opens, we are introduced to an opinionated, observant, sarcastic and hormone-driven 19-year old boy who works as a cashier in a grocery store of a small town. As he describes the store and his surroundings, the reader begins to sense Sammy’s

In this passage, Sammy describes the swimwear of the leader of the girls who he calls “Queenie”. The clothes that girls wear, while creating a stir in front of the customers (mainly the men), are characterized by Sammy’s point of view as fresh, exciting, a chance of living a life of freedom. The sight of the girls makes Sammy realize that he doesn’t wanna work at a grocery store for rest of his life, but to have a rich and comfortable life like the girls do. When the manager, Lengel, insults girls, he basically insults the kind of life Sammy wants because Lengel viewed the way they dressed as inappropriate and impolite. So, Sammy quits his job to make statement for the girls. In the end when he loses sight of them in the parking lot. he finds

Three young women walk into the local A&P supermarket upend then entire store. All three of the young women are similar yet very distinct in their appearance with each catching the eye of the protagonist Sammy’s eye for various reasons. First, the chunky girl in the green plaid two- piece bikini. When she comes in the first thing Sammy remarks on is her ample backside and he notes the shapeliness of it using hyper masculine language. Next Sammy notices the tall girl with black hair, sunburn under her eyes, and long chin. The tall girl and the chunky girl are there for the single reason to draw a contrast to the leader of the pack, the