A&P Short Story Analysis

Anthony Baccari
Professor Christine Barr
English 1302
A&P Literary Analysis
In the short story “A&P” by John Updike, Updike uses the point of view of a young A&P cashier, Sammy, whose immature, crude fantasies of three young girls that entered the store in swimsuits, lead him to a foolish flight from his job and a realization of his true place in society.
Beginning in the first line, “In walks these three girls with nothing but bathing suits.” (Updike 1), Updike’s implemental diction and informal syntax goad the first-person point of view to that of a young man. This point of view puts the story in terms of a teenager entering adulthood, which furthers the verisimilitude of the narrative by presenting Sammy’s thoughts before any of which are formed into reckless actions further down the line. As the first paragraph goes on, Updike describes the transaction between Sammy and a regular customer, mentioning specifically, after scanning her crackers twice, how, “She’d been watching cash registers for forty years and probably never seen a mistake before.” (Updike 1) and also, how,”…they would have burned her over in Salem…” (Updike 1) in reference of her similarity to a witch. These lines seem to create a very negative view from Sammy towards his work and possibly also towards establishment symbolically as well as pulling out some arrogance from Sammy. This also seems to set up the feelings that allow Sammy to consider quitting his job. As the story goes on, Updike describes how Sammy’s attention is fully aimed towards three girls that have entered the store wearing nothing but bathing suits, but more on the leading girl in which Sammy, in his head, names “Queenie”. Sammy instantly objectifies Queenie as she walks through the store and lets out his view of women by mentioning, “…how girls’ minds work (do you really think it’s a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glassjar?)” (Updike 1) showing how Sammy, even after adoring Queenie, still goes on in his arrogance this time putting himself above all women furthering his own self-declared social height, and in turn furthering the understanding of why Sammy will choose to leave his job when the time comes.
Next, as Queenie and the other girls comes to check out at Sammy’s slot, Sammy takes the items but is cut short when the manager of the store, Lengel, comes to ask the girls to leave due to their attire. Queenie begins to explain to the manager why she is there and Sammy suddenly begins to realize that the girl is of a much wealthier class than him, imagining her father and others,”…standing around in ice-cream coats and bow ties and the women were in sandals picking up herring snacks on toothpicks…” (Updike 3) compared to his family which prepares lemonade when they are expecting company. This is the first time Sammy begins to think realistically about his situation but Sammy’s pride is far too large to save his future. Lastly, as the girls leave the store, Sammy is caught up in his thoughts about them and quits without hesitation only to realize that the girls had not even noticed. Afterwards, Sammy, now jobless, hears from Lengel,”…you don’t want to do this to your mom and dad.” (Updike 5) showing that the job at A&P might have been the best thing Sammy had going for him due to his family’s social position and his lack of maturity, and further as Updike includes the details of Sammy’s, “…white shirt that [his] mother ironed the night before…” (Updike 5) All in all, the short story “A&P” by John Updike goes to explain that the irrational decisions Sammy made, which were based on immature fantasies, lead to long term hardships in the real world in the form of unemployment.
Works Cited
Updike, John. “A & P.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking and Writing. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: St. Martin’s, 1996. 487-491. Print.
Werlock, Abby H. P. ""A & P"." Bloom 's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 24 July 2013 .

Cited: Updike, John. “A & P.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking and Writing. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: St. Martin’s, 1996. 487-491. Print. Werlock, Abby H. P. ""A & P"." Bloom 's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 24 July 2013 .