Of Choices And Consequences In John Updike's A & P

603 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Why did sammy quit a&p

Many times in our lives, we wish we were independent and we believe we can stand up for ourselves, especially during our adolescence. In “A &P”, a short story by John Updike, the protagonist, Sammy, decides to stand up for himself and go against the customary life style of his town. By doing this such act, he reveals the themes of the story, which include maturity and choices followed by consequences. Updike uses literary devices such as symbolism and tone to help enforce the theme. There are two major themes in Updike’s “A & P;” one being choices and its consequences and the other being maturity. Choices and consequences can be seen in the three girls, Lengel, and Sammy. “In walk these three girls in nothing but bathing suits” (Updike, 621). …show more content…

The consequence here is that all the males in the supermarket are eye-balling them and are seeing the girls as eye candy. However, the girls do not care and feel in control. This state of control is broken when Lengel, the store manager, addresses the fact that the attire of the three girls is inappropriate. This confrontation embarrasses the girls and their power of control begins to diminish. They bluntly reply with “We are decent,” hoping to regain that power of control. The consequence of the girls wearing bathing suits is that they are embarrassed and kicked out of the store by Lengel. This leads us to Lengel, whose choice was to embarrass the girls by stating, “Girls, this isn’t the beach” (Updike, 623). Upon observing the situation as the girls walk out, Sammy decides to stand up for them and quits his job. Evidently, the consequence of Lengel scolding the girls is that Sammy quits his job. Lengel attempts to convince Sammy to keep his job by bringing up his parents, “Sammy, you don’t want to do this to your Mom and Dad” (Updike, 624), but Sammy decides to quit anyways. Now we get to Sammy, whose choice was to quit, signifying that he was on the girl’s side. His consequence is that he now doesn’t have a job and is left

Show More
Related

  • An Analysis of John Updike's A&P

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sammy observes their movements and gestures, up until the time of checkout. At which point, they are confronted by the store manager and chastised for their unacceptable appearance. He believes their attire is indecent. Sammy, feeling that the managerial display was unnecessary and unduly embarrassing for the girls, decides to quit his position as checker. Though he knows that his decision may be hasty, he knows that he has to follow through and he can never go back.

    Read More

  • The Revolution of The Young People: John Updike

    1191 Words  | 3 Pages

    In John Updike’s “A&P”, the revolution of the young people of the current age against authority is explored and explained. “A&P” reveals the shift from conservative and deferential to avant-garde and disrespectful. Through the observation of the behavior of the characters in the story, one can receive a clear picture of the evolution of the sexual revolution that has come in this age. Sammy is the first character that is introduced, he is the protagonist and narrator of the story. Stoksie and Lengel are next, Stoksie is a fellow store clerk with Sammy as well as a good friend and Lengel is the manager of the store. Finally, Queenie is introduced. “A&P” begins with Sammy noticing these three girls that come into the store in nothing but their bathing suits. Sammy then proceeds to analyze each of the girls bodies, finally coming to rest on the leader of the group, his favorite, who he affectionately names to himself, “Queenie”. Although Sammy and Stoksie joke back and forth about the girls sexiness, he is privately revolted by the butchers bluntly ogling the girls as they search for whatever they wish to purchase. Throughout this recounting of the experience, one begins to wonder, when did girls become pieces of meat to be observed and handled by men? They used to be cherished and protected as they should be. The sexual revolution of the past and current decades have changed all of that.

    Read More

  • An Opinion On A & P By John Updike

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    The boss, Lengel, seems to think that he has authority over Sammy, which he kind of does being the boss and everything. Sammy knows that Lengel thinks he is the big man, Sammy says, “I forgot to say he thinks he’s going to be manager some sunny day, maybe in 1990 when it’s called the Great Alexandrov and Petooshki Tea Company or something”(371). This is where the story gets more complex; since Lengel thinks he is the big boss, he decides that he wants to say something to the girls about being in their bathing suits. The girls were only in the store to pick up one thing for “Queenie’s” mother, but from Sammy’s point of view, it seems as if Lengel just wanted to show that he is higher up than the other workers. Sammy thinks that Lengel disrespected the girls by telling them that they need to wear clothing the next time they came into the store, and this made Sammy mad; Sammy wanted to look like a hero of sorts to the girls and quits his job on the spot in hopes that the girls would hear him and know that he did it for

    Read More

  • An Analysis of John Updike's A&P

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sammy is a 19-year-old boy conveying a cocky but cute male attitude. He describes three girls entering the A & P, setting the tone of the story. "In walk these three girls in nothing but bathing suits. There was this chunky one, with the two piece-it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale...there was this one, with one of those chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose, this one, and a tall one, with black hair that hadn't quite frizzed righ...

    Read More

  • John Updike Irony

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    Updike argues that lust only requires two attributes of another person, confidence and physical appearance. The reader can see 3 examples of Updike’s argument by analyzing Queenie’s posse. The posse walks into the A&P wearing nothing but bikinis. The fact that these three characters are wearing nothing but bikinis shows the confidence these girls have. Making a statement by wearing something against the social norm, the three girls peak Sammy’s interest. The second attribute that Updike argues is necessary for lust to occur is a strong physical appearance. All three of the girls described by Sammy are said to have strong physical appearances. The first girl has the “Good Tan” (Updike 642), the second girl has the “Striking” (Updike 643) appearances, and the third girl, Queenie, has the “long…legs”(Updike 644). The theme, the descriptive words and the dramatic irony all explain the reason for Sammy’s heroic

    Read More

  • Growth of Sammy in John Updike's A&P

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...s that Sammy is taking a stand and that Lengel cannot change his mind about quitting.  When Sammy left the store, the girls where long gone.  "His face was dark gray and his back stiff, as if he's just had an injection of iron, and my stomach kind of felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter."  This quote illustrates that Sammy knows that his parents will not like the fact that he quit, but he realizes that he has to take charge with his life, and make his own chooses without being afraid of what his parents would think.  He is very happy that he had taken a stand, and he let no one change it.

    Read More

  • Sammy in Updike's A&P

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    The main character in John Updike's short story “A&P” is Sammy. The story's first-person context gives the reader a unique insight toward the main character's own feelings and choices, as well as the reasons for the choices. The reader is allowed to closely observe Sammy's observations and first impressions of the three girls who come to the grocery store on a summer afternoon in the early 1960s. In order to understand this short story, one must first recognize the social climate of the era, the age of the main character, and the temptation this individual faces.

    Read More

  • Colloquial Language In John Updike's A & P

    434 Words  | 1 Pages

    In, “A&P,” Updike depicts an unusual day for Sammy working in the A&P store. Sammy’s days are usually mundane but his day is changed when a group of scantily dressed girls walk into the store and they leave an everlasting influence on his life. Updike’s demonstrates these events through colloquial language and symbolism, allowing the reader to connect with Sammy and see his growth as a character.

    Read More

  • Use Of Setting And Point Of View In John Updike's A & P

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is important to realize that Sammy’s 19-year old depiction of his surroundings might be skewed, but the story still maintains Updike’s basic use of this setting. Updike choses the dull setting of an A&P grocery store as a symbol, a microcosmic example of the societies tendency to conform. Also, the readers can easily relate to a grocery store. This A&P resides in a town where “the women generally put on shirt or shorts or something before they get out of their car into the street,” Sammy explains. Seeing a girl walking around wearing only a bikini in such a public place looks outrageous. “If you stand at our front doors you can see two banks and the Congregational church and the newspaper store…” The town is a conventional one. Updike turns this familiar, mundane piece of American life, and makes it extraordinary.

    Read More

  • John Updike's A&P

    532 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lengel, the manager of the store, spots the girls and gives them a hard time about their dress in the store. He tells them, “Girls, this isn’t the beach.” He says that they are not dressed appropriately to come into this grocery store. Lengel’s words cause Queenie to get embarrassed and start to blush. Sammy cannot believe this and gets frustrated at his boss. He doesn’t believe that it is right to prosecute these innocent girls for the way they are dressed. He also states at this point that the sheep are piling up over in Stokesie line trying to avoid all the commotion the scene has caused. I believe Sammy takes this as the last straw in a long string of aggravations.

    Read More

  • Gender And Gender Roles In A & P, By John Updike

    1307 Words  | 3 Pages

    Going against the norm almost always brings trouble. Much more so when the norms relate to gender in our society. From our formative years straight up to adulthood, society upholds certain distinct expectations of behaviors both male and females. Young men and woman are thus expected to follow and fit into these gender roles that are meant to guide and govern their behavior. The theme of gender and gender roles can be examined in the short story, “A & P”, written by John Updike. Through examination it can be seen that various characters go against the expected gender roles of that time period. Specifically the main character and narrator of Sammy. It is through the analysis of Sammy’s behavior that we discover what happens when you go against

    Read More

  • Social Class in A & P by John Updike

    372 Words  | 1 Pages

    The story unfolds when, “Lengel, the store’s manager” (2191) confronts the girls because they are dressed inappropriately. To Sammy, it is a moment of embarrassment and in defiance he quits his job. The student suggests that in quitting, “Sammy challenges social inequality and is a person who is trying to

    Read More

  • John Updike's "A&P"

    761 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story begins as if it is any mundane workday at the A&P. Sammy is a typical teen, making sarcastic comparisons of the customers in the grocery store. He calls one of his customers a "witch" and says the other customers are "house slaves" and "sheep." Sammy obviously dislikes the job, but finds ways of passing the day. However, from the moment the three girls enter the A&P to their exit from the store, you can see dramatic changes in Sammy. Sammy lusts for the young girls, and nicknames the most attractive to him as “Queenie”. The young girls dressed in bathing suits fascinate him, and although he is staring at them excessively, he negatively comments on the others for doing the same. As the girls walk past the older employee, McMahon, Sammy notices how he ogled the girls and pats his mouth. Sammy appears disgusted by his gesture and begins to sympathize for the girls. “Poor kids, I began to feel sorry for them, they couldn’t help it" (Upd...

    Read More

  • John Updike A & P Analysis

    1015 Words  | 3 Pages

    The possible reasons for Sammy quitting his job are numerous: Sammy might have just used the treatment of the girls as an excuse, or maybe Lengel did actually upset him that much. It is possible that Sammy did initially quit to impress the girls and be their hero. Susan Uphaus says, "Sammy’s quitting has been described as the reflex of the still uncommitted, of the youth still capable of the grand gesture because he has

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis of John Updike's A&P

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Updike's A&P provides numerous perspectives for critical interpretation. His descriptive metaphors and underlying sexual tones are just the tip of the iceberg. A gender analysis could be drawn from the initial outline of the story and Sammy's chauvinism towards the female. Further reading opens up a formalist and biographical perspective to the critic. After several readings I began seeing the Marxist perspective on the surreal environment of A&P. The economic and social differences are evident through Sammy's storytelling techniques and even further open up a biographical look at Updike's own view's and opinions. According to an essay posted on the internet Updike was a womanizer in his own era and displayed boyish immaturity into his adulthood. A second analysis of this story roots more from a reader-response/formalist view. Although Sammy centered his dramatization around three young females, more specifically the Queen of the trio, it was a poignant detailed head to toe description of scene. I'll touch on that later.

    Read More

More about Of Choices And Consequences In John Updike's A & P

Open Document