Sammy, the leading character and narrator of “A&P” by John Updike, is a young cashier in an A&P supermarket. Sammy is a working class dreamer trying to find his way in life. He devotes a great part of his narrative to describe his unpleasant job. Indeed, the story takes place inside the supermarket on a summer day; three girls in nothing but bathing suits come into the store while he is working. One of the girls catches Sammy’s eye. Feeling overwhelmed by her beauty, he nicknames the girl Queenie. Her two piece bathing suit was unacceptable to the conservative supermarket crowd, especially to Lengel, the manager. While Queenie and Lengel argue about store policies, Sammy sees the opportunity to seize the day. Fascinated about the unique aspects of the girls, he decides to take a stand against the pattern of his boring life. He doesn’t know how; however, he uses the conflict about the bathing suits as an excuse to take action.…
A mature decision with an immature motive will consequently result in a negative outcome. “A&P” is a short story about a boy named Sammy who changes from being an immature person, to progressively becoming mature, and returns to being immature. In the beginning of the story, when 3 girls dressed in bathing suits walks into the A&P Grocery Store, Sammy’s immatureness is clearly visible. “There was the chunky one..., there was one of those chubby berry-faces...” Without even getting to know them he judges them by what they are wearing and their body sizes which illustrate his immaturity. Furthermore into the story, Lengel who is Sammy’s manager confronts the 3 girls about their attire. Lengel boldly voices out that they should be “...decently…
Conformity: Sammy Quits to Rеjеct thе Amеrican Drеam In thе short story, “A & P,” by John Updikе. This Story takеs placе in 1961, in a small Nеw еngland town's A&P grocеry storе. Thе main charactеr Sammy is a young man who works at thе local grocеry storе callеd A & P. Hе finds himsеlf fascinatеd by a particular group of girls.…
tennis or baseball that gives him the feeling of youth. To parallel Homer’s feeling, Updike…
First, the way Sammy sees the regular customers reveals that he is a dynamic character. In the beginning, Sammy is at the cash register checking out a “witch about fifty with rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows” (Updike 18). The reader can tell Sammy has strong perspective on the customers that come in to the store. He sees them as disgusting, evil, lifeless and dead by the descriptions he gives the audience. As the story continues, Sammy looks down the lane and notices “the sheep pushing their carts down the aisle— [while] the girls were walking against the usual traffic” (20). The girls’ unorthodox direction represents Sammy noticing that the customers are followers-- not wanting to break the cycle like the girls. From the description Sammy gives, the reader notices that he does not want to be like the customers, following the same rules, guidelines, and policies. By the end of the story, the girls are stopped by Lengel, the manager, when they reach the check-out lanes. The customers that were showing up, “like sheep, seeing a scene,” crowded around Stokesie’s lane to avoid any confrontation that was happening out of the usual (22). Sammy’s way of describing what the regular customers would do in a tough situation makes him wonder if this is the type of life he…
John Updike was born on March 18th, 1932 to Wesley and Linda Updike. Weasley was a junior high school math teacher, while Linda was an author who was not published until she was middle aged. The three of them lived in Shillington, Pennsylvania, and they stayed there for the first thirteen years of Updike’s life. But, he did not stay in Shillington for long, for shortly thereafter they moved to Plowville, Pennsylvania to live on their grandfather’s farm. Updike hated Plowville, and felt very isolated there. Although Updike’s mother seemed to be almost enchanted by the farm, Updike did not share the same feeling. During his time in Plowville, he found his love for reading and writing, as he would read and write to distract himself…
The theme of desire has been portrayed in many novels and stories. Perhaps the most well-known depiction of desire can be found in the Bible. In the Book of Genesis, a snake tempts Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge after he convinces them that they will gain God’s knowledge of good and evil and be protected from death. Despite God’s word to not eat of the fruit, Adam and Eve did so anyway. Surely, this story portrays temptation; however, beyond the theme of temptation lays the theme of desire. Knowing it was wrong, Adam and Eve ate the fruit because they had the desire for what the snake promised them. Similarly, Toni Cade Bambara and John Updike also display the theme of desire in their short stories. In “The Lesson” by Bambara and “A&P” by Updike, character, setting, and point of view are utilized to project the theme of desire.…
"A&P" is a short story written by John Updike that gives readers a glimpse into an alternate view on society. The story, described in vivid detail through the eyes of the main character Sammy, takes place in a small-town grocery store called "A&P." Although on the surface this piece is a story of a typical teenager, it is what is in the opaque water below that is the most interesting. The story of "A&P" shows the narrator's view of society and his unwillingness to become like all the others that he describes as "sheep." The author shows his pessimistic view of society by describing how the individual members of society follow pre-determined rules and rarely stray from their set paths. Sammy has a strong fascination with a group of girls who boldly enter the store in nothing but bathing suits and keep their heads up high, despite the looks of all of the other customers. Updike shows us his view of society through the customers he describes as sheep, the free-thinking girls, and of particular interest to Sammy is the most confident girl…
Updike wrote a story called "A+P". In this story there is a very complex character, his name is Sammy. This story was written in 1961. It is currently the year of 2015, and people are still debating whether Sammy is a heroic character or not. I believe that Sammy is a heroic character because he stands up for the girls, he stands up against Lengel, and cares for the girls.…
The main character, Homer, experiences a teenage crush and the feelings behind growing up in David Updike’s, “Summer.” During the summer, Homer visits Fred’s lake house. Fred is Homer’s best friend, however Homer begins to develop a crush on his sister. Homer begins watching Sandra throughout the summer. As time passes he begins to develop a crush on Sandra. Homer spends the summer growing up and learning about life. Sandra also has feelings for Homer. However, they don’t believe the feeling is mutual and miss out on the opportunity. At the end of summer Homer finds out that Sandra has feeling for him as well.…
John Updikes short story, A & P is about a 19-year-old boy, Sammy, and his short but decisive transformation from a carefree teenager to a grown man with the consequences of his actions weighing heavy on him in the end. On an otherwise ordinary day, the course of Sammys life is changed by an out of the ordinary experience which challenges him and compels him to make a rash decision that is based on what he knows in his heart is right for him.…
Some believe that it is easiest to believe that things mean precisely what they appear to on the surface; however, to understand the world and thoughts of others in a more profound way, it is necessary to accept the fact that things may not always be just as they seem. This same attitude must be adopted when reading poetry. One poem in particular that exemplifies this is John Updike’s “Telephone Poles”. Within the work, telephone poles are compared to trees by way of extended metaphor. “Telephone Poles” conveys the message that when nature is destroyed to make way for technology is harmful to nature itself and humankind as well by using an extended metaphor; this is…
In the memoir, The Beautiful Struggle, Ta-Nehisi Coates and his father’s relationship progresses greatly throughout the novel. One of the factors that builds and also breaks this relationship is tough love. Ta-Nehisi’s father is very hard on him to become street smart. As Ta-Nehisi is growing up, he struggles to take on the aspects of being street smart. Through tough love and corporal punishment, his father tries to teach him lessons, but these lessons also causes a break in their bond.…
The story A & P from chapter one was a good reflection into my own past. However, I never thought of quitting a job just to impress a girl (Clugston, 2014). This story is about observing others and standing up for what you believe in. One of my potential largest weaknesses is that I am not very observant of my surroundings. This gives people the impression that I am stuck up, and don’t care about others. Unfortunately, many first impressions can be wrong. This is the complete opposite. I do care, but I am not the type to eaves drop on other people’s conversations, or try to be the center of attention. I prefer to try to stay focused upon the task at hand and move on to something else. The cashier in A & P describes three girls very vividly (Clugston, 2014). Right down to their skin tone, body shape, and details on the clothing they are wearing (Clugston, 2014). The situation of disagreeing with a boss is a common occurrence that most people will face at least once in their lives. I remember having a situation with one of my first bosses when I was about nineteen years old. I got tired of three or four people in the department have to work excessively hard while the rest just sat around and talked including the supervisor. I complained to the supervisor’s boss, and my supervisor found out about our conversation. He threatened to fire me. This was a situation where I should have just quit, but having a little bit of wisdom, I knew I needed to stick it out until I found another. Which, I did, very quickly. In the story A & P, the cashier uses poor judgement. Especially, without realizing that he was in the wrong. The company has a policy for a reason, and his boss was just trying to enforce it. However, he could have gone about it another way that wouldn’t have come across so mean to the girls and upsetting to the…
The story A&P written by John Updike reminded me of a regular American life. Updike transforms this seemingly ordinary locale store into an intense battleground; where the struggle for power and freedom plays out in the aisles. Updike title’s the story after the grocery store to emphasize that the setting holds an important role in American life. The grocery store setting is worth observing and writing about since it represents a commonplace that modern civilians go to purchase their necessities. What I enjoyed the most about Updike’s writing was the way he was very detailed when describing the characters, it allowed me to fully visualize the scene more clearly. I felt like I was able to see everything Sammy was seeing. When describing the…