A & P By John Updike Summary

In John Updike’s “A&P” the narrator is a 19-year-old grocery store employee named Sammy. Sammy worked at a A&P on the north side of Boston. As three girls in bathing suits walk in, Sammy couldn’t help but to notice them. Causing Sammy to accidently re-ring a customer’s item. As he was trying to satisfy the customer for his mistake he realized he lost sight of the girls and continued to try to spot them.
Sammy appeared to be the type of person that likes to examine a person by their emotions and gestures. All though Sammy did not know the middle-aged lady whom he accidently made upset, Sammy described her as a witch. And the 3 girls naming the leader of the group “Queenie” because of the way she walked and held her head up high.
Although Sammy explains in exact detail how these girls hold them self he couldn’t help but to focus more on Queenie. He imagines her not only as a girl but a queen. As he goes more in depth of her appearance than the others he realizes that not only was he noticing them but a co- worker named Stokesie was also. Stokesie unlike Sammy is a married man and is devoted to expanding more into the company. Sammy knows he does not want to dedicate his rest of the life working at a super market.
The fact that the girls walk into the store with their bathing suit on, it shows how confident they are.
With them jus walking in looking forward and not looking back at anyone in their way it makes them fell not only above everyone else but empowered. Not only did they get attention from the opposite sex but also from other customers shopping. As queenie and the girls did what they had to do at the store, they did not care who was staring. They were there to get what they needed and go. Sammy found it odd that they were in bathing suits because the beach was 5 miles away and even then, people would always dress up after they had left the
beach.
As the girls are just about done shopping, Sammy was hoping the girls would check out at his lane. Almost losing hope thinking they would check out at Stokesie’s lane he got excited when he realized they were going to his. As he was going through with the transaction Sammy put himself in queenies shoes. When he saw that she was buying herring snacks for her mother, Sammy imagined himself in her home. “Her father and the other men were standing around in ice-cream coats and bow ties” were his thoughts. (166) Then he thought of himself just a simple person that had parents that invited people over for lemonade and Schlitz.
Sammy’s thoughts were interrupted by his manager named Lengel. Legel being the boss that he appears to be approaches the girls and lets them know how the way they are dressed is not appropriate. Queenie and the girls felt like their power was taken away when they didn’t not have much to say back to Lagel. So, they just paid for their groceries and left the store feeling embarrassed.
Sammy tries to be a hero in the end. He wanted to get the girls attention by quitting his job. As Lagel tried to convince Sammy that he was making a big mistake, telling him he was only going to upset his parent’s Sammy did not care, for he felt that the girls were not treated properly. Sammy came to realize that queenie was not even around. As he ran outside trying got catch up to the girls Sammy apprehended that he might have made a huge mistake by trying to prove a point. Not only did he not get the girl he also did not have a job anymore.