A & P Summary

The story “A & P” revolves around the most regular of days, seen through the eyes of our main protagonist, Sammy. He is the cutting image of an 18 year old, fresh out of high school, working a job at a grocery store given to him by a family friend. Then, one day, the most exciting day Sammy has had all summer comes when 3 bikini-clad girls come into the store. This is the first bit of color in Sammy’s life surrounded by the white walls of A & P. This sudden appearance takes Sammy off guard, putting all of his attention onto these girls. For the following minutes it is his whole focus to track these girls as they walk through the store. Through this Sammy goes through his own adventure in his head about these girls, especially the one he’s taken a sincere liking to, Queenie. When they come into vision they instantly take all of his attention, causing a slip up in checking a lady out. The conflict begins to set in motion as Sammy begins to examine these girls, as most boys at 18 would, and when he starts to look at Queenie, he becomes completely enticed by her presence, hence the title of “Queenie”. Looking Queenie up and down it becomes more evident that Sammy has become love-struck. Everyone in the
The climax hits when Lengel comes out and ruins Sammy’s possible moment to shine. However when one door closed Sammy opened another one and, well, quit. Not the prettiest resolve to Sammy’s big break, as he emerged, jobless, and unrecognized. “I could see Lengel in my place in the slot, checking the sheep through. His face was dark gray and his back stiff, as if he'd just had an injection of iron, and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter.” (p.19). Sammy has realized the weight of his actions, and doesn’t seem to feel too